Doctor warns that risks from malnutrition persist even as food becomes available
Tanya Haj Hassan, a doctor with MSF, explains the severe effect of malnutrition on the body, which means that serious health risks remain even after food becomes available again.
“The reality is the problem doesn’t end when the food arrives … malnutrition impacts all aspects of the body’s function,” Hassan told Al Jazeera.
“All of the cells in your body are altered by this. In the intestines, the cells die. That results in issues with absorption, with bacteria. Your pancreas struggles; absorbing fats is difficult.
“Your heart cells become weak and thinned. The connections are impacted, the heart rate slows. These children often die of heart failure, even when they’re being re-fed,” he added.
“They also have life-threatening shifts in salts; these can also lead to fatal heart rhythms. They’re more prone to sepsis and shock,” the doctor said, in reference to oral rehydration salt solutions, which are usually administered to people suffering from malnutrition.
“[Patients can face] low blood pressure, skin lesions, hypothermia, fluid overload, infection, vitamin deficiencies that can affect vision and bone.”
Newborns in the neonatal units at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis are experiencing skin rashes and irritation as a result of excessive heat and inadequate climate control, as they struggle to survive due to Israel’s ongoing attacks and restrictions of essential supplies
Amount of aid entering Gaza ‘symbolic’ as humanitarian crisis continues to deteriorate
The humanitarian situation is taking a devastating turn on the ground, despite the latest Israeli declaration that they are carrying out a humanitarian process to allow for more aid to move into the territory and to allow airdrops of food.
The amount of airdrops and trucks are just seen as a trickle in the flood of need in Gaza. According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, only 87 humanitarian trucks entered Gaza yesterday, and they were looted by desperate crowds.
All the humanitarian reports coming out from NGOs in Gaza say that without protected humanitarian corridors, logistical infrastructure and a ceasefire, the humanitarian crisis will continue to escalate.
The airdrops over the last 48 hours amount to about three trucks’ worth of aid – that’s not enough for even one neighbourhood in Gaza for less than a day. So this amount of aid trickling into the Strip remains very symbolic and does little to alleviate the current humanitarian crisis.
