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UN Urges Cease-Fire in Gaza to Combat Polio Outbreak
The UN calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza to address the alarming polio outbreak. This urgent plea highlights the critical need for humanitarian access and vaccination efforts to protect vulnerable populations amidst ongoing conflict.
UN Calls for Cease-Fire to Combat Polio Outbreak in Gaza
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, issued a strong appeal on Friday for a one-week cease-fire in Gaza. His request aims to facilitate vaccination efforts to prevent a potential outbreak of polio, a highly contagious viral disease that poses a significant risk to children in the region. This call came just hours after the Gaza health ministry confirmed the first case of polio in the enclave in several years.
Mr. Guterres emphasized the urgency of the situation, stating, “Preventing and containing the spread of polio will take a massive, coordinated, and urgent effort.” He further added, “It is impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign with war raging all over.” The Secretary-General also warned that if the disease is not swiftly contained, it could potentially spread to neighboring countries.
Polio is primarily a disease that affects young children, targeting the nervous system and potentially leading to severe complications such as spinal and respiratory paralysis, and in some cases, death. The virus responsible for polio was detected in wastewater samples from Gaza as early as July, signaling a concerning trend.
It is estimated that children comprise approximately half of Gaza’s population, which totals around 2.2 million. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, more than 340,000 children are under the age of five. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a collaborative effort spearheaded by the World Health Organization, indicated that vaccination rates were significantly high until the onset of the ongoing conflict over ten months ago.
The World Health Organization notes that polio has been present since prehistoric times but has been eradicated in many regions of the world due to successful vaccination campaigns that began in the 1950s. The recent resurgence of polio in Gaza, which the United Nations had declared polio-free for 25 years, highlights the devastating impact of the war on the territory’s health infrastructure. The destruction of waste and water systems, compounded by malnutrition that borders on famine, has created a multitude of critical health threats for the population trapped in the enclave.
Following the detection of the virus in Gaza’s wastewater, the Israeli military announced plans to initiate vaccination efforts for its soldiers stationed in the area. In a coordinated response, both the World Health Organization and UNICEF, the United Nations agency for children, have also advocated for a pause in hostilities to allow for vaccination campaigns to take place in Gaza.
The Israeli agency responsible for overseeing policy in the Palestinian territories, known as COGAT, indicated in a weekly report released on Friday that it would collaborate with the World Health Organization and UNICEF to facilitate the vaccination campaign.