ME war to impact Pakistan polio fight

GENEVA:

The Middle East war has forced the World Health Organization to suspend operations at its global emergency logistics hub in Dubai, the UN agency’s chief said Thursday.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the impact of the conflict, sparked by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran on Saturday, “goes beyond the immediately affected countries”.

“Operations at WHO’s logistics hub for global health emergencies in Dubai are currently on hold due to insecurity,” he told a press conference.

On top of that, $1.6 million in polio laboratory supplies were being held up, which could have dire impacts for Afghanistan and Pakistan, where the disease is endemic, she cautioned.
Balkhy said the WHO was discussing and coordinating with authorities in the United Arab Emirates on how to continue using the hub.

It was also in discussions with other countries and humanitarian partners on using other hubs in Nairobi, Dakar and Brindisi to establish other routes.

If the conflict draws out, Balkhy acknowledged there could be a need to discuss “all types of potential road routes or ground routes, potentially through the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”, but said the WHO hoped it would not need to do so.

“The Dubai hub is an extremely important lifeline for the humanitarian response,” she said.

Last year, the Dubai logistics hub processed more than 500 emergency orders for 75 countries around the world, Hanan Balkhy, the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean regional director, told reporters.

“Humanitarian health supply chains are now being jeopardised,” she warned.

Balkhy explained that “the hub’s operations are temporarily on hold due to insecurity, airspace closures and restrictions affecting access to the Strait of Hormuz”.

The disruption, she said, was “preventing access to $18 million in humanitarian health supplies while another $8 million in shipments cannot reach the hub”. It was affecting more than 50 emergency supply requests from 25 countries.