Urgent Need for Polio Vaccination in Gaza Amid Rising Threat

The threat of a polio outbreak in the Gaza Strip is escalating due to the ongoing conflict, which has severely impacted vaccination efforts. Aid groups are calling for a temporary ceasefire to facilitate the immunization of over 600,000 children. The World Health Organization and UNICEF emphasize the urgent need for a mass vaccination campaign.

The threat of polio is rapidly increasing in the Gaza Strip, prompting urgent calls from aid organizations for a temporary pause in the ongoing conflict. This pause would allow for a significant ramp-up in vaccination efforts to prevent a widespread outbreak. At least one confirmed case, along with suspected others, has been identified, and the virus has been detected in wastewater across six locations since July.

Once eradicated in Gaza 25 years ago, polio has reemerged due to plummeting vaccination rates caused by the 10-month conflict. The region has become susceptible due to overcrowded, unsanitary conditions in tent camps housing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians. Aid groups plan to vaccinate over 600,000 children, but stress the impossibility of such an endeavor without halting the fighting between Israel and Hamas.

Francis Hughes of CARE International has warned of a worst-case scenario of a full-blown polio outbreak. The WHO and UNICEF have jointly called for at least a seven-day ceasefire to execute a mass vaccination plan, aiming to introduce 1.6 million doses of the polio vaccine into Gaza, where sanitation has collapsed, leaving families exposed to severe health risks including contaminated drinking water and exposure to open waste pits.

(With inputs from agencies.)