ガザ人道状況、母子にとって「悪夢」 麻酔不十分の帝王切開も

【国連本部ＡＦＰ＝時事】パレスチナ自治区ガザ地区の人道状況は、母子にとって「悪夢」となっている。医師からは、体が小さく病弱な新生児や死産、麻酔が不十分な状態での帝王切開などが報告されている。（写真はテントの前で赤ん坊を抱くパレスチナ人女性。ガザ地区南部ラファにて）
　国連人口基金（ＵＮＦＰＡ）パレスチナ事務所のドミニク・アレン所長は１５日、ガザ北部で今も分娩（ぶんべん）を取り扱っている病院を訪れた後、エルサレムからリモートで会見し、「私は今週ガザを離れるが、ガザに住む１００万人の女性や少女、とりわけ日々出産している（平均）１８０人の女性たちにとって恐怖だ」と発言。
　「医師からの報告では、もはや通常の大きさの新生児を見ることはないという」「悲しいことに死産が増え、栄養失調や脱水症状、合併症による新生児の死亡も増加している」と窮状を訴えた。
　また、イスラエルとイスラム組織ハマスの紛争開始前と比べて、難産もほぼ倍増している。妊婦はストレスや恐怖を感じ、栄養不良で疲弊しており、子どもの世話をする側にとっても必要な物資が不足している。
　アレン氏は「帝王切開のための麻酔薬が不十分だったという報告もあった」「これも考えられないことだ」と指摘。「子どもは母親の腕に抱かれなければならない」「遺体袋に包まれるべきではない」と述べた。
　アレン氏によると、イスラエル当局は助産師用の器具などを含むＵＮＦＰＡの物資搬入を拒否したり、懐中電灯や太陽光パネルなどを撤去したりした。
　「この状態は、人道危機をはるかに上回る悪夢だ」「大惨事を超える、人間性の危機だ」とアレン氏は述べた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/03/22-18:55）

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is a nightmare for mothers and babies, with doctors reporting small and sickly newborns, stillbirths and women forced to undergo C-sections without adequate anesthesia, a UN official said Friday.
I'm personally leaving Gaza this week terrified for the one million women and girls of Gaza... and most especially for the 180 women who are giving birth every single day, Dominic Allen, UN Population Fund (UNFPA) representative for the state of Palestine, said in a video news conference from Jerusalem.
Doctors are reporting that they no longer see normal-sized babies, Allen said after visiting hospitals still providing maternity services in the north of Gaza, where need is especially great.
What they do see though, tragically, is more stillborn births... and more neonatal deaths, caused in part by malnutrition, dehydration and complications.
The numbers of complicated deliveries are roughly twice what they were before the war with Israel began -- with mothers stressed, fearful, underfed and exhausted -- and caregivers often lacking necessary supplies.
We have had reports of insufficient anesthetic being available for Caesarean sections, which again is unthinkable.
Those mothers should be wrapping their arms around their children, he said. Those children should not be wrapped in a body bag.
Israel has defended its policies as it pursues its stated goal of destroying Hamas, saying the UN should send more aid to the war-ravaged territory, pushing back on reports by the UN and NGOs that cumbersome Israeli inspections are blocking food and other essentials.
Allen said Israeli authorities had refused to allow in some UNFPA supply shipments, such as kits for midwives, or had removed supplies like flashlights and solar panels.
It's a nightmare which is much more than a humanitarian crisis, he said. It is a crisis of humanity... beyond catastrophic.
What he saw while driving through Gaza, he said, really broke my heart.
Everyone he passed or spoke to, Allen said, was gaunt, emaciated, hungry and exhausted from the daily struggle to survive.
At one military checkpoint, he said, he saw a boy who appeared to be about five years old walking with his hands held high, clearly frightened, as his slightly older sister followed behind, holding a white flag.
The war began October 7 when a surprise attack by Hamas militants resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
Israel's retaliatory campaign has killed at least 31,490 people in Gaza, most of them women and children, according to the health ministry.