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Friday, 09 August 2024 07:05

WHO Sends Over 1 Million Polio Vaccines to Gaza Amid Virus Detection

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A UNRWA staff member administers polio and rotavirus vaccines to children at a clinic in the Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, on September 9, 2020.
The WHO announced on August 7, 2024, that it will send over one million polio vaccines to war-torn Gaza after the virus was detected in local wastewater. (Photo: MOHAMMED ABED / AFP)
 
VOInews, Gaza: The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Wednesday that it will deliver more than one million polio vaccines to Gaza following the detection of the virus in wastewater samples from the region. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted the critical need for unhindered movement for health workers in Gaza to conduct vaccinations, stressing that a ceasefire or at least several "days of calm" is essential to ensure the safety of children through routine immunizations.
 
 
"To protect the children of Gaza, WHO will be sending over one million polio vaccines, which will be administered over the coming weeks," Tedros said during a press conference.
Tedros explained that the presence of polio in Gaza’s wastewater indicates that the virus has likely spread within the community, putting unvaccinated children at high risk. To date, no clinical cases have been detected.
Andrea King from WHO’s global health cluster team described the vaccination campaign as a "major logistical challenge." "We need to transport both the vaccines and the required cold chain equipment to Gaza, along with detailed planning within Gaza itself," she stated at the press briefing.
 
 
If all goes according to plan, the vaccines are expected to arrive in time for the scheduled immunization campaign at the end of this month, with the first round set to begin on August 17.
Earlier, on July 30, the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza declared the region a "polio epidemic zone," attributing the resurgence of the virus to the Israeli military offensive following the Hamas attack on October 7, and the subsequent damage to health facilities. The ministry reported that the virus was detected in wastewater samples from Khan Yunis in southern Gaza and central Gaza.
 
 
Polio, which spreads primarily through contaminated waste and water, is highly infectious and can lead to paralysis, deformities, and even death. It primarily affects children under the age of five.
While wild poliovirus is now endemic only in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the oral polio vaccine, which contains weakened polio viruses, can occasionally cause outbreaks elsewhere. The UN has noted that vaccine-derived polio virus type-2 has been detected in Gaza’s wastewater. The oral polio vaccine can replicate in the intestines and spread through contaminated water, posing a risk to unvaccinated neighbors in areas with low sanitation and immunization rates, though it does not harm vaccinated individuals.
 
 
The ongoing conflict in Gaza, which began with Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, has resulted in significant casualties, with 1,198 deaths reported, mostly civilians. Palestinian fighters have also taken 251 hostages, 111 of whom remain in Gaza, including 39 whom the Israeli military believes are deceased.
 
 
The subsequent Israeli military campaign in Gaza has resulted in 39,677 deaths, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, which has not specified the number of civilian versus combatant casualties.
 
 
Source: AFP
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