In a significant public health initiative, UN agencies and local health authorities in Gaza are set to launch a campaign aiming to vaccinate 640,000 children against polio. This urgent initiative comes in response to the first reported case of polio in the region in 25 years and is critical to preventing further infections.
The vaccination effort will depend on temporary pauses in ongoing hostilities between Israeli forces and Hamas, with the first pause planned to start on Sunday. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a vaccination rate of at least 90% among children under ten is essential to contain the virus effectively.
The alarming situation follows the confirmation of a polio case, raising concerns among health experts that more children could be at risk and could lead to a broader regional outbreak if not addressed promptly.
As young Abdul Rahman Abu Al-Jidyan nears his first birthday, his mother Niveen faces heartbreaking uncertainty following his polio diagnosis, which has resulted in partial paralysis of one leg. “It was shocking,” she expressed, recalling her son’s condition. The day of a major attack on southern Israel in October coincided with his missed routine vaccinations, leaving him vulnerable.
The Abu Al-Jidyan family has been displaced multiple times amidst the ongoing conflict, contributing to a deteriorating health environment where about 90% of Gazans are now displaced and health services struggle to function.
“I feel guilty that he didn’t get vaccinated, but our circumstances made it impossible,” Niveen lamented, as she hoped for her son’s treatment outside Gaza. She also faces the challenge of securing clean drinking water amid dire living conditions, which harbor health risks, particularly for children like Abdul Rahman.
In response to the emergency, around 1.3 million doses of the polio vaccine have been transported to Gaza. UNICEF has ensured these vaccines are stored under the proper conditions to maintain efficacy, with an additional shipment of 400,000 doses expected soon.
The WHO has reached an agreement for limited humanitarian pauses to facilitate the vaccination program, starting in central Gaza and extending throughout the region. These pauses are vital to ensuring the safety of families and healthcare workers involved in the vaccination efforts.
With over 2,000 local workers mobilized for this campaign, the aim is to set up more than 400 vaccination sites across healthcare centers and community locations. The urgency of the program cannot be overstated. Children require two doses of the oral polio vaccine for effective immunization, which must be administered quickly to prevent further virus transmission and mutation.
The current outbreak is attributed to a mutated strain of the virus that emerged from an oral polio vaccine. Healthcare professionals in Gaza are on high alert for additional cases, with tests being conducted at WHO-approved laboratories in the region.
Health officials warn that if the outbreak is not contained, the risks could extend beyond Gaza, potentially spilling over into neighboring areas, increasing the urgency of the vaccination campaign to protect not just local children but the wider region.
In a landscape where children constitute nearly half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, the focus remains on curbing this new threat to their health and future. With mounting devastation from ongoing conflict, efforts to eliminate polio emerge as a critical necessity in fostering hope and recovery.
