The safety of patients and staff, as well as the integrity of the health care
systems in the wider community, are of paramount concern. International
humanitarian law must be respected.
00:06:25
WHO has staff who live in Gaza but many of them have been displaced and
are just trying to protect themselves and their families. One of our staff said
this week, there is no water, no food no electricity, only bombing, bombing,
bombing.
Yesterday, international staff arrived to coordinate our operation. I spoke to
our colleagues in Gaza this morning. They said the most pressing needs are
for a ceasefire, the sustained opening of the Rafah crossing, safe movement
for humanitarian aid and workers, and for supplies of electricity and fuel to be
restored.
Electricity is needed to power desalination and sewage treatment plants,
hospitals and telecommunications, and fuel is needed to distribute aid. We
might be able to get aid into Gaza through the Rafah crossing but without fuel
we cannot get it to where it needs to go.
On Monday, the forklift we use to load aid on to trucks inside Gaza ran out of
fuel. Gaza’s telecommunications providers have said that without fuel or
electricity their networks will turn off in the coming hours.
Earlier today, a truck with 23,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza but Israel has
restricted its use to only transporting aid from Rafah. At least 120,000 litres a
day are needed to operate hospital generators, ambulances, desalination
plants, sewage treatment plants and telecommunications.
This problem can be easily fixed. The supply of electricity must be restored
and sufficient fuel must be allowed to enter to run vital infrastructure and
distribute life-saving aid.
00:09:04
Although the situation in Gaza is rightly dominating our headlines, WHO’s work
continues in many other areas. The COVID-19 pandemic brought the problem
of social isolation and loneliness to widespread public attention, affecting all
countries, communities and ages. But the problem existed long before the
pandemic and it continues for many people throughout the world.
Currently, one in four older people experience social isolation and one in six
adolescents is socially isolated and lonely, though this is likely an under-
estimate. Social isolation and loneliness affects both physical and mental
health. It is associated with up to a 50% increase in dementia and a 30%
increase in strokes and cardiovascular disease.
Social connection has profound benefits for improving health, education and
the economy. Around the world, there are many initiatives to promote social
connection in different communities but we don’t yet know which ones work
best. We need global leadership to identify the best buys and help deliver the
resources needed to implement these solutions.
That’s why today I'm proud to announce the launch of WHO’s Commission on
Social Connection. This is the first global initiative to tackle the epidemic of
