The World Health Organisation has said the US-Israeli war with Iran has throttled its deliveries of vital medical supplies from the world’s largest humanitarian supply hub in Dubai to conflict-wracked countries, reports Health Policy Watch.
With the freezing of air travel across the Middle East, and shipping restrictions through the Straits of Hormuz, operations at WHO’s logistics hub for global health emergencies have had to be put on hold, said the agency’s Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director of the Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office (EMRO), said the disruption is preventing access to some $18m in humanitarian health supplies, while another $8m in shipments has been stranded and unable to reach the Dubai hub.
“More than 50 emergency supply requests from 25 countries are affected, while $6m in medicines for Gaza as well as $1.6m in polio laboratory supplies are also held up,” Balkhy said.
The airspace and sea lane closures have had broad repercussions because half of all global humanitarian needs are concentrated in the eastern Mediterranean region – which extends from Pakistan all the way to Tunisia.
The Dubai hub also serves as a logistics junction for WHO-supported medical supplies traveling to Africa, South-East Asia and beyond.
“Last year, WHO’s global health emergencies logistics hub in Dubai fulfilled more than 500 emergency orders for 75 countries across all six WHO regions,” said Balkhy.
Deepening humanitarian crisis
The crisis comes as WHO and other humanitarian partners are attempting to pre-position trauma supplies and essential medicines in vulnerable regions, like southern Lebanon, in preparation for potential mass casualties – as well as population displacement.
For Gaza, already devastated by two-years of war with Israel, the fresh conflict with Iran and Lebanon is a huge setback in an “extremely fragile situation”, she added.
Tedros described the progress in Gaza since the October cease-fire as “marginal”, saying: “We need 600 trucks to cross into Gaza every day. But currently it’s not more than 100 between 100 or 150, and some of those tracks are actually commercial, and that doesn’t really help with humanitarian services.”
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
Gaza hospitals run out of medicines
War crime’ accusations over attacks on Ukraine hospitals and civilians