JAKARTA - Most supplies of medical equipment have run out in Gaza. While 42% of basic medicines include pain relievers run out of stock.
"Our stock is almost up to 64% for medical equipment and 43% for essential medicines and 42% for vaccines have run out," Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, told reporters in Geneva.
Balkhy said the WHO had 51 aid trucks waiting on the Gaza border that had not yet received permission to enter the area, where Israel last week slightly relaxed the total blockade of aid imposed in early March.
"Can you imagine a surgeon (improving) a broken bone without anesthesia? Infusion liquids, needles, bandages - all of which are not available in the required amount," he said.
According to Balkhy, basic medicines such as antibiotics, pain relievers, and drugs for chronic diseases are very limited.
After an 11-week blockade, Israel allowed 100 aid trucks carrying flour, baby food, and medical equipment into the Gaza Strip on May 21, none of them from WHO.
Amid the ongoing shortage of medical equipment, WHO confirmed it would not take part in the US-backed alternative aid plan to distribute aid, proposed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).
The United Nations says the foundation is impartial and its work could lead to further evacuation of civilians, endangering thousands of people.
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The GHF previously told Reuters it plans to allow aid to be delivered to people in need, without being transferred to Hamas militants or criminal gangs.
Israel halted all aid deliveries to Gaza on March 2 after accusing Hamas of stealing aid.
Israel demanded the release of all remaining hostages taken during the Hamas attack in October 2023 in Israel.
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