Polio, which mostly affects young children, invades the nervous system and can lead to spinal and respiratory paralysis, sometimes resulting in death. There is no cure for this highly contagious disease.
The virus was eradicated from the Gaza Strip more than 25 years ago through a comprehensive vaccination campaign.
But the “decimation of the health system, lack of security, access obstruction, constant population displacement, shortages of medical supplies, poor quality of water and weakened sanitation” have created the “perfect environment” for polio and other diseases to spread, World Organization spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said last month.
A two-round polio vaccination campaign targeting more than 640,000 children under the age of 10 is set to begin in late August across the Gaza Strip with the support of the Palestinian Health Ministry, the WHO, UNICEF, U.N. relief agency UNRWA and other partners.
The WHO and UNICEF called for “humanitarian pauses” in the region to allow the campaign to move forward.
“These pauses in fighting would allow children and families to safely reach health facilities and community outreach workers to get to children who cannot access health facilities for polio vaccination,” the organizations said in a statement on Friday. “Without the humanitarian pauses, the delivery of the campaign will not be possible.”
