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PRESS RELEASE
Cairo – March 25, 2025 – UNFPA – The ongoing aid blockade on Gaza is severely undermining access to essential health care for women and girls, as supplies run dry and hospitals once again come under attack. This marks the longest suspension of aid to Gaza since 7 October 2023.
In March 2025, the Ministry of Health reported critical shortages of three essential maternal health drugs: medicines used to induce or augment labour; blood plasma to treat women who are hemorrhaging, and medicine to treat pre-eclampsia- all vital to preventing maternal deaths and complications.
Meanwhile, 54 ultrasounds to monitor fetal health; nine incubators that keep premature and low-birth-weight newborns alive; and 350 midwifery kits that would enable community midwives to manage safe deliveries for more than 15,000 women, are all languishing at the border. Lab reagents and antibiotics, supplies to prevent and control infection, and other basics are running dangerously low. Supplies of folic acid, multivitamins, and other crucial supplements are nearly depleted, increasing the risk of birth defects, anemia, and other pregnancy-related complications.
"This blockade is not only denying pregnant women and newborns essential medical care but also stripping them of their fundamental right to life. We urgently call for an immediate lifting of restrictions on medical supplies, fuel, and food and unimpeded access to healthcare for all, in line with international humanitarian law,” said Laila Baker, Regional Director for the Arab States at UNFPA, the UN sexual and reproductive health agency.
Pregnant women and newborns in Gaza are facing higher than normal rates of complications, driven by widespread malnutrition compounded by the ongoing aid blockade, according to data from health facilities and partners. Around 520 babies – one in five – born since the latest aid blockade was imposed on 2 March, have required advanced medical care that is increasingly scarce.
Between 10 and 20 per cent of all pregnant mothers in Gaza are malnourished, according to the latest nutrition assessments.
On top of the deadly denial of critical supplies comes a resumption of attacks by Israel on healthcare facilities, staff and patients, including an attack on Nasser Hospital - one of the only remaining hospitals in Gaza where women can access maternal healthcare services. Al-Shifa and Al-Quds hospitals in the North and Emirati field hospital in Rafah are no longer fully operational, following repeat attacks.
“Women’s lives, and the lives of their babies hang in the balance,” said Ms. Baker. “All women have the right to access healthcare when they give birth - to deny this is to deny them their humanity.” Women and girls need a permanent end to hostilities and a pathway to peace.
