WHO underlines Gaza enormous health needs as hospitals out of service

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (KUNA) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the health needs of the Gaza Strip are enormous as many hospitals and health centers are out of service.
In a virtual press briefing from Gaza late Thursday, WHO Representative in the West Bank and Gaza Rik Peeperkorn said Al-Awda Hospital is the only partially functional medical facility in northern Gaza and Kamal Adwan Hospital has been completely destroyed and the Indonesian Hospital is out of service.
He added that in southern Gaza, the three main hospitals, notably the Kuwaiti Hospital, Al-Emirati Field Hospital and Al-Najjar Hospital, are not functional.
He emphasized that 12,000 and 14,000 patients, including at least 5,000 children, are in need of medical evacuation out of Gaza.
As the Rafah frontier crossing has been opened for evacuations, he regretted that it is not sufficient.
"We need to expedite (medical evacuations). There should be more patients going through Rafah into Egypt. But we also want other medical corridors," he said.
On the health situation in the West Bank, the WHO representative said the WHO is trying to provide all supplies for main hospitals and medical facilities there. (end) ast.mt