First polio case in 25 years in Gaza – POLITICO

Polio, which mainly affects young children, affects the nervous system and can lead to paralysis of the spinal cord and respiratory system, sometimes resulting in death. There is no cure for this highly contagious disease.

Thanks to a comprehensive vaccination campaign, the virus was eradicated in the Gaza Strip more than 25 years ago.

But the “decimation of the health system, lack of security, access restrictions, constant displacement of the population, shortages of medical supplies, poor water quality and inadequate sanitation” have created a “perfect environment” for the spread of polio and other diseases, the world organization's spokesman, Christian Lindmeier, said last month.

At the end of August, a two-stage polio vaccination campaign for more than 640,000 children under the age of ten is scheduled to begin throughout the Gaza Strip with the support of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, the WHO, UNICEF, the UN Relief and Works Agency UNRWA and other partners.

The WHO and UNICEF called for “humanitarian pauses” in the region to allow the campaign to continue.

“These pauses in fighting would allow children and families to reach health facilities safely and enable social workers to reach children who do not have access to health facilities to receive polio vaccinations,” the organizations said in a statement on Friday. “Without the humanitarian pauses in fighting, the implementation of the campaign will not be possible.”