A plane carrying 78 cubic metres of health supplies from WHO’s logistics hub in Dubai has landed in Al-Arish airport in Egypt. The supplies will be delivered to Gaza to meet critical health needs as soon as humanitarian access through the Rafah crossing is established.

Every hour these supplies remain on the Egyptian side of the border, more girls and boys, women, and men, especially those vulnerable or disabled, will die while supplies that can save them are less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) away.

The supplies include enough trauma medicines and health supplies to treat 1200 wounded patients and 1500 patients suffering from heart diseases, hypertension, diabetes, and respiratory problems, and basic essential health supplies to serve the needs of 300,000 people, including pregnant women.

They also include trauma pouches with enough medicines and supplies to treat 235 wounded people. With hospitals in Gaza either nonfunctional or overwhelmed, and movement restricted due to fighting, these will enable injured people to be stabilized and receive immediate, lifesaving care anywhere it is needed.

WHO will work with the Egyptian and Palestinian Red Crescent Societies to ensure transportation and delivery of the supplies through Egypt and into Gaza.

On 9 October, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who agreed to a WHO request to facilitate the delivery of health and other humanitarian supplies from WHO to Gaza via the Rafah crossing.

While the Egyptian side of the crossing is accessible, the Israeli side remains closed.

The critically injured, the sick, and the vulnerable cannot wait. Too many lives have already been lost. WHO joins the calls for an immediate opening of a humanitarian crossing through the Rafah border into Gaza, for safe onward delivery of life-saving supplies to health facilities, for the delivery of fuel, water, food, and other items essential for survival, and for the protection of health care workers, patients, and civilians.

About WHO

The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.