The emergency coordinator of the World Health Organization (WHO), Sean Casey, witnessed the medical collapse in the Gaza Strip during five weeks, while his team delivered supplies and evaluated conditions in health facilities.

Speaking to reporters at the United Nations headquarters, Casey described the context in the Strip as a simultaneous unfolding humanitarian catastrophe. “Every day the situation and the collapse of the health system worsens with the closure of hospitals, the flight of health workers and the continuous inflow of victims,” he stressed. “There are obstacles to the entry of medicines, medical supplies and fuel to run the power generators, keep the lights on and the machines running.”

The coordinator asserted that despite the complex context, WHO continues its efforts to deliver critical medicines, medical consumables and fuel to operating hospitals. It is also trying to bring in, additional healthcare workers, doctors and nurses to meet the huge demand from trauma patients, but also others with any other clinical presentation.

Casey described the bleak scene he witnessed at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, Gaza’s largest health institution, and the Al-Ahli Hospital. “I saw people on the ground, so many that you could barely move without stepping on someone’s hands or feet, while others were lying in church pews, basically waiting to die in a hospital that had no fuel, electricity or water,” he recalled. “Every day I saw patients in hospitals with severe burns, with open fractures, waiting hours or days to receive care, and many times they asked me for food or water.”

In Casey’s opinion, this reveals the level of despair over access to medical care and the most basic supplies of life. “The only thing that could change this situation is a ceasefire for greater humanitarian access, greater ability to move people and supplies safely and quickly as well as life-saving skills,” he emphasized.

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