Dangerous skin diseases spreading among Gaza children
Deir El-Balah, Palestinian Territories: More than 150,000 people in the Gaza Strip have contracted skin diseases amid the squalid conditions faced by displaced residents since October 2023. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that Gaza's children are particularly vulnerable to these diseases due to compromised immune systems caused by malnutrition.
Wafaa Elwan’s five-year-old son, living in a Gaza tent city, suffers from severe itching due to skin infections. "My son can’t sleep through the night because he can’t stop scratching his body," Elwan shared, describing the white and red blotches covering his feet, legs, and torso.
Skin infections such as scabies, chickenpox, lice, impetigo, and other debilitating rashes are rampant among Gazans. The WHO has documented 96,417 cases of scabies and lice, 9,274 cases of chickenpox, 60,130 cases of skin rashes, and 10,038 cases of impetigo since October 2023.
Elwan's family, like many others, lives on a sandy patch near the sea close to Deir al-Balah. "We sleep on the ground, on sand where worms come out underneath us," she said. Limited access to hygiene and sanitary products exacerbates the situation. Parents previously encouraged their children to wash in the Mediterranean, but pollution from the war has made the sea hazardous.
Pharmacist Sami Hamid, who runs a makeshift clinic in Deir al-Balah, noted the prevalence of scabies and chickenpox. "Children’s skin suffers from the hot weather and the lack of clean water," Hamid explained. He provided calamine lotion to soothe the itching of affected children.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warns that Gaza’s children are especially susceptible to skin conditions due to malnutrition. Mohammed Abu Mughaiseeb, MSF's medical coordinator in Gaza, highlighted the additional risk posed by hot weather and poor hygiene.
Hamid reported that 24 out of 150 students in a makeshift school had scabies, with infections spreading among them. WHO warned of other diseases rampaging through displacement camps due to poor hygiene. Primitive toilets draining into channels among tents contribute to the spread of epidemics, with 485,000 cases of diarrhoea reported.
The United Nations reports that 1.9 million people in Gaza, out of a population of 2.4 million, are now displaced. Israel’s aggression has resulted in at least 37,925 Palestinian deaths, primarily civilians, according to official figures.
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Swamiji fires gun into the air in Kalaburagi village, video goes viral
Kalaburagi: An incident involving a swamiji firing a gun into the air has been reported from Udachan village in Afzalpur taluk of Kalaburagi district. The act, captured on video, has since gone viral on social media.
The swamiji has been identified as Sri Shantalinga Shivacharya, pontiff of the Hiremath of Sri Shankaralingeshwara Samsthana. According to reports, the incident took place on Sunday evening within the premises of the math, where the swamiji allegedly fired a single-barrel gun into the air.
This is not the first time the swami has courted controversy. Last year, he was reportedly found driving erratically under the influence of alcohol in Salotagi village of neighbouring Indi taluk, following which members of the public confronted him. He later fled from the math, sources said.
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More recently, during the annual fair of the Sri Shankaralingeshwara Math in Udachan village, the swami had arrived at the village with police protection, claiming to be the rightful pontiff of the math. Despite opposition from villagers, he reportedly went ahead and conducted rituals related to the fair.
The latest incident of firing the gun into the air has triggered criticism, especially after the video surfaced online. Further action, if any, is awaited from the authorities.
