Category: Medical/Health Care

Seventy percent of the casualties in the besieged Gaza enclave are Women, Children and elderly, the Palestinian Health Ministry said on Monday. The causalities, the ministry added, include 1903 children, 1024 women and 187 elderly.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip soared to 4,385, including 1,756 children and 967 women, as the air strikes continued for the 15th day in a row, according to medical sources. They said Israel committed 29 massacres over the last 24 hours in which 248 people were killed and 400 injured, adding that since the start of the assault on the besieged enclave, 550 massacres occurred leaving 3,353 people dead, 70 percent of whom were children, women and elderly, and many are still under the rubble of collapsed buildings. They said Israeli bombings killed 51 health and medical personnel and injured 87 others, and seven hospitals and medical centers were put out of service as they were targeted and ran out of fuel. The sources said the bed occupancy rate in Gaza hospitals was more than 150 percent, forcing hospitals to set up makeshift tents to accommodate the rising number of wounded and sick. The sources said only a limited number of trucks entered the blockaded enclave today through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, adding that the entry of medical supplies is essential for hospitals and warning against excluding fuel within humanitarian aid which will continue to endanger the lives of the sick and wounded and life-saving services. They appealed to the international community to act immediately to bring in fuel and emergency health needs before more victims are lost in hospitals.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Baghdad / – The World Health Organization announced the outbreak of a cholera epidemic in at least 31 countries this year, putting about one billion people at risk of contracting the disease around the world.

Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said in a speech before representatives of diplomatic missions in Geneva: “We should have defeated this disease a long time ago, but in fact it is growing.”

The Director-General confirmed that the number of reports of cholera in 2022 doubled compared to 2021, and “this year will be worse.”

He said: “At least 31 countries witnessed a cholera outbreak in 2023, and one billion people are at risk.”

Ghebreyesus added: “What is most worrying is the current outbreak of the disease in Burundi, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Sudan, Syria and Zimbabwe. In southern Africa, great progress has been made in controlling the disease, but the rainy season increases the risk of a serious outbreak of the disease, and raises concern, in particular, the resurgence of the disease this year in countries that eliminated cholera many years ago.”

The Director-General drew attention to the significant shortage of vital supplies, including the oral cholera vaccine.

Ghebreyesus called on the international community to raise $160 million to combat cholera.

According to a World Health Organization bulletin issued in early October in Geneva, the number of cholera cases has exceeded 582,000 since the beginning of the year, and more than 4.5 thousand people have died from the disease.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

The death toll from the Israeli aggression on Gaza reached 1,055 by the fifth day, according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip. Israeli air strikes also injured 5,184 individuals since Saturday, added the ministry.

Source: Jordan News Agency

An estimated 14.7 percent of the Eastern Mediterranean Region’s population suffer from mental disorders, the second highest among the WHO six regions, the WTO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean said.

Mental health is one of the key public health issues in our world today, it said in a statement to mark World Mental Health Day, adding that estimates point to more than one billion people have mental disorders, or disorders particularly resulting from drug abuse.

World Mental Health Day aims to ensure the provision of mental health services and psychosocial support to those who need them, and to enhance the resilience of individuals suffering from the effects of war, displacement and climate emergencies by strengthening cooperation between the public, private sectors and civil society, and setting mental health within the priorities of health, development and humanitarian work, it said.

World Mental Health Day, titled “Mental health is a universal human right” this year, urges all government agencies and non-governmental organizations to join forces to improve mental health throughout life, said the statement.

The WTO stressed the importance of support and investment to provide treatment for mental health conditions, promote social integration, reduce stigma and discrimination and protect the rights of vulnerable groups.

“Mental health is a basic human right guaranteed to everyone,” said WTO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Ahmed Al-Mandhari. “This means that every individual, everywhere, should be able to enjoy the highest possible level of mental health, which includes protecting people from risks related to mental disorders and ensure the right to care that combines high quality and accessibility,” he added.

“People with mental problems should have access to health services in a manner that preserves their dignity, and that they should not be deprived of their right to freedom, independence and integration into society,” he pointed out.

A mental health condition should not, in any way, be a reason to deprive a person of his/her human rights, or exclude them from decisions related to their health, but in many parts of the world people with conditions continue to suffer from a wide range of human rights violations and discrimination. This is why many of them are forced to isolate themselves from community life, Al-Mandhari said.

World Mental Health Day, which is annually marked on October 10, is an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health issues and mobilize efforts to support mental health, the statement said.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Minister of Health, Dr. Saleh Mahdi Al-Hasnawi, met with the Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Iraq, Walid Muhammad Ismail.

The Ministry of Health stated in a statement, “The meeting discussed the prospects for joint cooperation between the two countries in the health fields and the exchange of experiences.”

Source: National Iraqi News Agency

The death toll from the two terrorist bombings that targeted a religious procession and a mosque in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces in Pakistan has risen to 56. The first bombing targeted a celebration on the occasion of the Prophet’s date of birth near a mosque in the town of Mastung in Balochistan Province, killing 52 people, according to international news agencies quoting Pakistani officials. The second bombing happened hours after the Mastung bombing in a mosque during Friday prayers in the Hingu area south of Peshawar in the Khyber Region, leaving four dead and five wounded, according to official Pakistani sources. Local media quoted local police officer Nizar Ahmed as saying that between 30 and 40 people were still trapped under the rubble of the mosque in Hangu.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Government Hospitals obtained Institutional Accreditation from the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties after evaluating the training-related facilities, based on the standards approved by the commission.

This achievement is represented by the ability of government hospitals, represented by the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC), to obtain programmatic accreditation for a number of new medical specialties from the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties.

Shaikh Hisham bin Abdulaziz Al Khalifa, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Governmental Hospitals, affirmed the importance of these accreditations in enhancing the status of government hospitals and health services provided in Bahrain.

He also noted the importance of medical training as the basic building block for qualifying medical personnel to achieve quality services to patients.

Dr. Ahmed Mohammad Al Ansari, Government Hospitals CEO, affirmed the keenness of government hospitals to provide an educational environment for trainers and trainees based on the foundations of health education, to provide high quality training in all specialities.

Source: Bahrain News Agency