GENEVA: The Middle East war has forced the World Health Organisation (WHO) to suspend operations at its global emergency logistics hub in Dubai, the agency’s chief said Thursday (Mar 5).
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus voiced alarm at the conflict which erupted Saturday with US-Israeli attacks on Iran, and warned that the “impact 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.
Last year, the logistics Dubai 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”.