The United Nations (UN) demanded a seven-day ceasefire in Gaza on Friday to facilitate the vaccination of 640,000 children against polio.
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that UN agencies are preparing to administer the Oral Polio Vaccine Type 2 to children under ten later this month.
The campaign’s success hinges on the establishment of humanitarian ceasefires. “Without such ceasefires, it will not be possible to carry out the campaign,” a WHO representative stated.
In July, WHO revealed a significant risk of a polio outbreak in Gaza and its surroundings, attributed to dire health conditions and the deteriorating sanitation system in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
Ayadiel Sabarbikov, head of WHO’s emergency health team in Gaza and the West Bank, reported detecting the poliovirus in samples from Gaza’s sewage.
Speaking to journalists via a video link from Jerusalem, he expressed concerns about the potential spread of the vaccine-derived poliovirus in Gaza, exacerbated by the critical sanitation conditions.
“The risk extends internationally and poses a severe challenge,” he added.
Polio is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis, primarily affecting children under five.
Public health officials and relief organizations warn that without adequate healthcare services, Gazans are particularly vulnerable to disease outbreaks.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the death toll in Gaza has risen to 40,005, with the majority of the victims being children and women, since the onset of the Israeli occupation’s assault on October 7.
In a statement, the ministry added that the number of injuries has surged to 92,401 since the beginning of the aggression. Thousands of victims are still trapped under the rubble, according to the Palestinian news agency “WAFA.”
