A/HRC/7/76 page 8 commercial sector, and meat, frozen fish and vegetables were rarely available in shops.10 It should be noted that the right to food is not primarily about food aid; it is rather about being able to feed oneself through an adequate livelihood. 21. Regarding the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, the World Health Organization highlighted, in January, a serious shortage of essential drugs and increasing difficulties for patients requiring emergency care not available in Gaza to leave the Strip, sometimes resulting in the death of the patients concerned. A Palestinian human rights organization documented four cases of patients who died between 29 January and 19 February as a result of not being able to travel abroad to seek needed medical attention or owing to their referral for treatment outside the Gaza Strip being delayed or denied.11 22. According to an Israeli human rights organization, on 27 January, a patient who had obtained an exit permit to be treated in an Israeli facility was arrested at the Erez crossing. On 30 January, another patient was released by Israeli security after a 10-hour-long incommunicado interrogation.12 23. Moreover, power cuts forced hospitals to suspend operations in order to ensure emergency services; children, who make up 56 per cent of the population in Gaza, were at risk of health problems related to contaminated water and non-functioning sanitation and heating systems. During the reporting period, hospitals relied on emergency generators to maintain normal services. As at 4 February, all 12 hospitals of the Palestinian Ministry of Health were functioning at full capacity; however, none of the primary health-care facilities had received any fuel. The provision of diagnostic and dental services was interrupted in primary health-care facilities, which had no functioning generators during hours of electricity outage. The facilities that provide immunization services and did not have generators transferred vaccines to other facilities with functioning generators to prevent breaking the cold chain of the vaccines. According to Ministry of Health officials, 49 of 57 ambulances from the emergency department stopped working owing to the lack of fuel during the third week of February. Without fuel, hospital generators and vital equipment such as incubators would have to shut down. 24. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported that, without power, the Coastal Municipalities Water Utility, the Gaza water authority, could not pump and distribute water nor process sewage; for that reason, it had no choice but to release waste water into the sea at a rate of 40 million litres per day. According to the Office for the Coordination of 10 Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Gaza Strip Humanitarian Fact Sheet, January 2008. 11 “Patient dies due to inability to reach a hospital” (17 February 2008) and “Further Deterioration to Health Conditions in the Gaza Strip: 3 Patients Die and Ambulances Stopped Operation Due to the Lack of Fuels” (21 February 2008), Palestinian Center for Human Rights. 12 Physicians for Human Rights Israel, “January 2008 in Gaza; no justice, no hope for patients”, 1 February 2008.