WHO to send 1.2m polio vaccines to Gaza after outbreak warning

[Pelican Press 0]

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WHO to send 1.2m polio vaccines to Gaza after outbreak warning

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Some displaced Palestinians have set up camp next to sewage facilities

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced plans to send 1.2 million polio vaccines to Gaza after the virus was detected in wastewater.

The agency’s chief, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, outlined plans for two rounds of vaccination, targeting 600,000 children under the age of eight. The first round is due to start on 17 August.

Polio is a serious infectious ******** that causes a fever – and, in some cases, can lead to paralysis or ******. It is spread through coughing and sneezing or contact with faecal matter.

Gaza ******** the focus of a 10-month-long ******** military operation which has left only 16 out of 36 of the territory’s hospitals even partially functional.

‘Huge logistical challenge’

It will be a “huge logistical challenge” to ensure the 1.2 million vaccine doses are deployed successfully, said WHO official Andrea King.

Vaccines need to be continuously stored in a limited temperature range – from the moment they are manufactured until they are administered – which presents a technical challenge during hostilities

The WHO called for a ceasefire and requested “absolute freedom of movement” during the rollout of the vaccine programme. It said it was in the process of obtaining the necessary approvals to enter Gaza.

However, previous calls for a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds have not been granted by *******.

The ******** military said in July it had begun vaccinating its soldiers against the ********.

Testing run by WHO last month showed that sewage samples collected in two areas of Gaza were positive for polio.

The genetic nature of the samples indicated they had been circulating in Gaza “for some time, maybe as early as since September of last year”, WHO polio specialist Dr Hamed Jafari said in July.

He added that Gaza offered “ideal conditions” for polio transmission, because of “displacement, overcrowding, sewage contamination, lack of clean water”.

The WHO says immunisation rates in Gaza and the occupied West Bank were optimal before the conflict. Polio vaccine coverage was estimated at 99% in 2022, although it had declined to 89% last year, according to the latest data.

Last week, Gaza’s ******-run health ministry said the territory had become a “polio epidemic zone”. It blamed the reappearance of the virus on *******’s military offensive and the resulting destruction of health facilities.

The WHO says that fewer than half of Gaza’s primary healthcare facilities are operational.

As many as 70% of sewage pumps in Gaza have been destroyed and not a single wastewater treatment plant is working, the agency said, presenting the “perfect breeding ground” for ******** to spread.

*******’s military campaign in Gaza has ******* at least 39,677 people, according to the territory’s ******-run health ministry. Its figures do not distinguish between civilian and militant deaths.

*******’s offensive began in response to ******’s unprecedented ******* on *******, ******** about 1,200 people and taking 251 others back to Gaza as hostages.

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