Gazans need access to polio vaccines amid ‘deathly cycle’ of malnutrition, heat and disease, say UN aid agencies
In a bid to prevent a polio epidemic in Gaza, UN humanitarians on Tuesday repeated continuing international calls for a ceasefire, to allow a mass vaccination campaign to get under way.
Almost 10 months of war and intense Israeli bombardment have shattered healthcare in Gaza and disrupted routine inoculation rounds for youngsters, leaving them exposed to a range of preventable diseases including polio, which the UN World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed had been identified last month in several sewage samples taken from Gaza.
Speaking to journalists in Geneva, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said that a ceasefire would be “the best” solution, before calling at the very least for the enclave’s roads to be kept clear and for safe access for medical and other relief supplies. “Otherwise, the vaccines would be sitting as many other trucks are across the border, either on the Rafah side or at the other checkpoints either inside or just inside or outside Gaza,” he said, a week since the UN health agency announced that it was sending one million polio vaccines to the Strip.
No cases of paralysis have been reported so far, according to WHO.
If a child receives the full course of vaccines, the risk of contracting paralyzing polio is “negligible”, said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. He insisted that vaccine rates had been “very high” before war erupted in response to Hamas-led terror attacks on multiple targets in southern Israel which left some 1,250 dead and more than 250 taken hostage. “But the mass displacement, the decimation of health infrastructure, the horrendously insecure operating environment, they all make it much, much more difficult, hence putting more and more children at risk,” he said, adding that vaccination coverage was now at around 89 per cent – “hence you’ve got this increased risk for children”.
Condemning the reported destruction last week of a key water treatment station in the southern city of Rafah, Mr. Elder underscored the additional health dangers this had created for Gazans, now that it had been “blown up”. It is yet another grim reminder on these assaults on families who are already in desperate need of water,” he said.
Today across Gaza, average water availability has fallen to between two and nine litres per person, per day, whereas the minimum should be 15 litres, Mr. Elder continued. “Somehow people are holding on, but of course we are now in that deathly cycle whereby children are very malnourished, there is immense heat, there is lack of water, there's a horrendous lack of sanitation and that's the cycle. On top of that, of course, there is a very, very active conflict.”
In its latest update issued Monday evening, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said that more than 200,000 people in Gaza – nine per cent of the population – have been forcibly displaced by Israeli evacuation orders.
Directives issued by the Israeli authorities on Saturday and Sunday impacted Rafah, Khan Younis and Deir al Balah “where a combined 56,000 people had been sheltering”, OCHA said, before warning that the development comes “at a time when water, sanitation and hygiene conditions are being further eroded in Gaza, with infectious diseases on the rise”.
SHOTLIST
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
New forced displacements have continued in Gaza as regional tensions escalate after a deadly strike in the Syrian Golan Heights where 12 youngsters were killed over the weekend, UN humanitarians have said.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
News of another deadly shipwreck tragedy off the coast of Mauritania is a clear indication of the desperation people on the move continue to face as they attempt to escape strife, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Concerns continue to grow over the impact of a possible polio outbreak in Gaza, amid disastrous sanitary conditions and a lack of access to health care, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , OHCHR , UNICEF
Poliovirus detected in Gaza sewage puts thousands at risk amid increasing ‘anarchy’ In Gaza, tests conducted by the Global Polio Laboratory Network have confirmed the presence of poliovirus in six sewage samples collected on 23 June from Khan Younis and Deir al Balah.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Renewed wave of deadly Israeli strikes on Gaza must stop – UN Human Rights Office
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
Institutionalised forced labour by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea constitutes grave violations of human rights – UN report
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Time is running out for starving civilians in Sudan, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday, while talks involving the country’s warring parties continue in Geneva this week.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC faces a severe humanitarian crisis with 25M in need and rising conflict-related issues.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
A gimmer of good news emerged from Gaza on Tuesday as patients returned to at a newly reopened UN health centre in Khan Younis, six months after it was severely damaged and forced to close by heavy fighting, the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN condemns attacks on Kyiv hospitals, calls for immediate action to protect civilians.
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO
In Gaza, soaring temperatures, hunger and unsanitary conditions present an ever more deadly threat to a population under constant attack, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WMO , IFRC
Hurricane Beryl smashes into Caribbean, turns sights on Mexico As Hurricane Beryl’s destructive path shifted to Mexico on Friday after roiling the Caribbean, UN agencies and partners said that the emergency response was underway, before warning that a very long and damaging hurricane season looks increasingly likely.