The World Health Organization (WHO) has lauded the efforts of countries including Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar, Algeria, and Tunisia for facilitating medical evacuations and providing healthcare to victims of the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Since October 2023, more than 5,300 patients have been evacuated from the besieged territory, WHO reported on Thursday. However, the pace of these evacuations remains alarmingly slow, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
The UN agency estimates that over 12,000 critically ill individuals in Gaza still require urgent medical evacuation for life-saving treatment. At the current evacuation rate, it could take five to ten years to address all cases, including thousands of children, the WHO warned.
“In the meantime, their conditions worsen, and some die,” Ghebreyesus stressed, urging swift action to prevent further suffering and fatalities.
The WHO has called on all nations to join the effort by accepting patients and offering specialized healthcare to address the critical medical crisis in Gaza.