Gaza records first case of polio, UNICEF calls for humanitarian truce

Published on August 16, 2024
Ansarullah website – Follow-ups

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reported today, Friday, the registration of the first case of polio, while UNICEF called for a humanitarian truce to immunize children against the dangerous disease.

The director of field hospitals at the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Marwan Al-Hams, announced the registration of the first positive case of the “polio” virus in the Gaza Strip.

Al-Hams said that UNICEF informed them of the registration of the first case of a child with “polio” in the Gaza Strip, warning that the infection would be equivalent to 200 cases that have not yet been discovered and have not shown symptoms.

He stressed that with the registration of the first case of the virus, the sector will begin to record more cases.

In the same context, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) called for a 7-day truce in the Gaza Strip, in order to vaccinate about 640,000 children against polio.

The organization called, in a statement on its website today, Friday, on the parties to the conflict to implement humanitarian pauses in the Strip for 7 days, to allow for two rounds of vaccination campaigns.

UNICEF stressed that in the absence of humanitarian pauses, it will not be possible to implement the campaign. It explained that this truce will allow children and families to safely access health facilities, and community awareness workers to reach children who cannot access health facilities for vaccination.

Last July, the World Health Organization revealed that there is a high possibility of a polio outbreak in and around the Gaza Strip due to the dire health situation as well as the deterioration of the sewage system in the war-torn Palestinian sector.

Ayadil Saparbekov, head of the WHO’s health emergency team in Gaza and the West Bank, said that polio virus was detected in samples of sewage water in Gaza.

Polio is a highly contagious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis, and mainly affects children under the age of five.

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