Director of "World Health": A million doses of polio vaccine to Gaza

The Director General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanum Jibisus, said on Friday that the organization would send more than a million doses of polio vaccine to Gaza after discovering it in the strip last week. In an article in the British newspaper “The Guardian”, he added that the vaccine doses will be distributed in the coming weeks to prevent children from being infected after the virus is monitored in the samples of sewage in the Palestinian sector, which has faced since an Israeli war since October 7, 2023. Thousands of children who have become without protection. “Polio in Gaza, the Director General of the World Health Organization, indicated that children under the age of five are at the greatest danger of developing these virus, especially babies under the age of two, due to the failure of regular vaccination campaigns, due to the continued conflict for nine months. The article states that the polio virus was in Gaza last week, and “Worrying development was, but it is not surprising, given the dismantling state of health systems in the region, after nine months of a compromise war.” However, Jibrisus says – in the absence of an immediate ceasefire and a widespread humanitarian assistance, including a targeted vaccination campaign focused on young children, people will continue to kill the death of preventative illnesses and heal injuries. World Health Organization said that most hospitals in Gaza can no longer work. Gaza Strip, which has an area of ​​141 square miles (365 square kilometers), which became more concentrated, amid limited access to clean and safe water, and the deterioration of health conditions. Since the beginning of May, about a million people have been moved from Rafah to Khan Yunis and Deir Al -Balah, where polio samples were discovered. The destruction of the health system and Jibrisus says that the vaccination against polio before the outbreak of the current conflict was 99%. Now this percentage has decreased to 86%, which is dangerous because it offers pockets of non -resurant children, as the virus can spread. He added that the destruction of the health system, the uncertainty, the destruction of the infrastructure, the mass displacement of the people, and the lack of medical supplies prevented children from receiving many vaccinations for life. The article explains that the number of hospitals working in Gaza is only 16 out of 36, amid low services, and the decline in the number of primary healthcare facilities that work by half. At the same time, 70% of all sewer pumps in Gaza were destroyed, and this is no longer a single wastewater treatment plant. According to the Director General of the World Health Organization, these conditions are fertile soil, ideal for the spread of disease. In light of this heinous context – the article continues – Health workers dare their lives to care for people, from work without electricity, to testing samples of wastewater in search of deadly diseases. “The fact that polio in Gaza was discovered before polio widespread is proof of these incredible efforts, as the disease monitoring system has severely decreased due to uncertainty,” Jibrisus said. Polio -virus which is mainly spread through the transmission of fecal substances of the affected person by mouth, a highly infected virus, affects the nervous system and causes paralysis. The viral infection has decreased by 99% in the world since 1988 thanks to group vaccination campaigns and efforts to eliminate it completely. The Israeli army said on Sunday that he would start vaccinating his soldiers in Gaza with a polio vaccine, after the traces of the virus were monitored in the samples taken from the strip. In addition to polio, the United Nations last week led a significant increase in cases of hepatitis A, dysentery, gastro -centeredis, with the weakening of health conditions in Gaza; Due to the leakage of wastewater to the streets near some of the displaced camps.