Polio Outbreak In Gaza: WHO Requests Humanitarian Pause In Gaza Strip For Critical Polio Vaccination Drive

World aid groups are worried about the rising polio threat in Gaza and have urged for humanitarian pauses in the war-torn region.

In the ruins of Gaza, as Palestinians grieve over the dead bodies of their loved ones, the living ones are at a greater risk of Polio disease. World aid groups are worried about the children of Gaza amid a looming polio outbreak. With one case of polio confirmed, humanitarian groups aim to avert a possible polio outbreak in the Gaza strip.

The polio virus was detected in late July in the wastewater samples in Gaza. The nine months long Israel-Hamas war has destroyed the healthcare sector of Gaza, leaving only 14 of 35 hospitals operating now, rest have become ruin and rubbles. Amid this to avert the polio outbreak in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire is what the aid groups are demanding for.

WHO And UNICEF Joint Statement

The World health organization and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has jointly issued a statement requesting the parties involved in the ongoing conflict to hold ceasefires to make polio vaccination drives possible. The polio vaccination will be conducted in two rounds in 7 days with 708 teams including hospitals, primary healthcare systems and other partnering groups that also includes the Hamas-run Health Ministry of Gaza.

Children under the age of 10 will be given two drops of novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to around 640 000 children of Gaza. The polio vaccination drive is planned to be held in late August and September in two rounds. Nearly 1.6 million doses of polio vaccine will be delivered to Gaza strip.

Obstacles In Polio Vaccination Drive

Ever since a symptom of polio was detected in three school children, the risk of a polio outbreak in Gaza has remained high. Their stool samples were sent to the National Polio Laboratory for testing.

This won't be possible without a ceasefire as Israel continues pounding airstrikes on Gaza taking the death toll to more than 40,000. The continuous bombardment in Gaza for the last nine months have resulted in ruined hospitals, destroyed sewage pipelines, millions of Palestinians displaced from their homes, no water treatment plant working, food insecurity and water shortage. All these make the breeding ground of life-threatening diseases.

Amid the heavy onslaught, vaccinating a large number of children and creating more health facilities among families is impossible without a ceasefire according to UNICEF.

With the US State Secretary Antony Blinken negotiating a ceasefire in Gaza, the situation doesn't seem to have been improved ever since the Isael-Hamas war commenced on October 7, 2023, after a deadly attack by Hamas in which around 12,00 Israelis were killed and nearly 200 were taken hostages.