19 January 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) welcomes the Gaza ceasefire, hostage and prisoner release deal, which brings hope for millions of people whose lives have been ravaged by the conflict.    The health challenges ahead are immense. The entire population of Gaza has faced multiple displacements. More than 46 600 people have been...

Mr President, Excellencies, Thank you for this opportunity to brief you on the health situation in Gaza. 2025 begins on a somber and deeply worrying note as fighting continues to intensify, and hope dwindles for Gazans who have been enduring this nightmare for fourteen months. Approximately 7% of the population has been killed or injured since October...

28 December 2024 - WHO is appalled by yesterday’s raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital, which put the last major health facility in North Gaza out of service. The systematic dismantling of the health system and a siege for over 80 days on North Gaza puts the lives of the 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the area at risk. Initial reports indicate that...

6 November 2024 – The second round of the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip was completed yesterday, with an overall 556 774 children under the age of 10 being vaccinated with a second dose of polio vaccine, and 448 425 children between 2- to 10-years-old receiving vitamin A, following the three phases conducted in the last weeks. Administrative data...

Joint statement by WHO and UNICEF 1 November 2024, A third phase of the polio vaccination campaign is set to begin tomorrow in part of the northern Gaza Strip after being postponed from 23 October 2024 due to lack of access and assured, comprehensive humanitarian pauses, intense bombardment, and mass evacuation orders. These conditions made it...

23 October 2024, Jerusalem/Amman/Geneva- Due to the escalating violence, intense bombardment, mass displacement orders, and lack of assured humanitarian pauses across most of northern Gaza, the Polio Technical Committee for Gaza, including the Palestinian Ministry of Health, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Children’s Fund...

22 October 2024, Gaza, Cairo, Geneva – On 21 October, 14 patients and 10 caregivers were transferred from Kamal Adwan in North Gaza to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City during a high-risk, WHO-led joint mission, amid intense hostilities and access restrictions. Despite an initial agreement, the delivery of critical medical supplies, blood, and...

11 October 2024 -  The second round of an emergency polio vaccination campaign is scheduled to start on 14 October 2024 in Gaza, to vaccinate an estimated 591 700 children under ten years of age with a second dose of the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) vaccine. This follows a first round, which was successfully implemented from 1-12...

13 September 2024, Jerusalem/Amman/Geneva - Around 560 000 children under ten years old were vaccinated against polio during the first round of an emergency vaccination campaign conducted in three phases from 1-12 September 2024 in the Gaza Strip. The 12-day campaign provided novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to 558 963 children, following...

4 September 2024, over 187 000 children under ten years of age were vaccinated with novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) in central Gaza during the first phase of a two-round polio vaccination campaign, conducted between 1–3 September 2024. Vaccination coverage in this phase exceeded the initial estimated target of 157 000 children due to...