The infant mortality rate in the Gaza Strip has increased since 2013 to 22.3 per 1,000 births, while the number of those who died within four weeks of birth increased from 12 per 1,000 births in 2008 to 20.3 in 2013, a new study by UNRWA has shown.
The agency said the Israeli-imposed siege on the Gaza Strip, which has been in place since 2007, was the cause of the increase.
The UN agency said this is the first time infant mortality rates have risen in Gaza in more than 50 years.
“The number of babies dying before the age of one has consistently gone down over the last decades in Gaza, from 127 per 1,000 live births in 1960 to 20.2 in 2008. At the last count, in 2013, it had risen to 22.4 per 1,000 live births,” according to a statement published on the agency’s website.
The study quoted Dr Akihiro Seita, director of UNRWA’s health programme, as saying: “Infant mortality is one of the best indicators for the health of the community.”
“It is hard to know the exact causes behind the increase in both neonatal and infant mortality rates, but I fear it is part of a wider trend.”
“Progress in combatting infant mortality doesn’t usually reverse. This seems to be the first time we have seen an increase like this. The only other examples I can think of are in some African countries which experienced HIV epidemics.”
Israeli imposed a crippling siege on the Gaza Strip in 2007 after Hamas won elections in the enclave a year earlier. It has since tightened the land and sea blockade, stifling Gaza’s inhabitants.
UNRWA expressed deep concern about the long-term impact of the Israeli blockade on the health infrastructure and the supply of medicines and medical equipment to the besieged Gaza Strip.
Forty-five per cent of Gaza’s population is currently under 14 years old, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
According to the spokesman of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf Al-Kudra, the Israeli blockade had disastrous health effects, especially on Gaza’s children.
He added that Israel wages three wars on Gaza during the nine years of the blockage causing further destruction to the health facilities and spreading disease.
“Shocking statistics and figures unfold day after day, and there is a tragedy that worsens every hour with the deterioration of health conditions,” Al-Kudra said.
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