NEW YORK, (PIC)
United Nations officials renewed the calls for a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure the delivery of polio vaccines into the Gaza Strip, as the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Strip stressed the need for a humanitarian truce to ensure a successful vaccination campaign.
Dr. Louisa Baxter, who is leading Save the Children’s medical team, said in a speech at the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that “polio is spreading in Gaza and will not wait at the inspection gate at the Karam Abu Salem crossing or the customs office at Ben Gurion Airport.”
Baxter stated that this disease poses a threat to children everywhere, and without immediate preventive measures, the outbreak of the disease in Gaza will hinder efforts to eliminate the disease globally.”
Baxter called for a complete ceasefire to be implemented in two stages, with no less than one week for each in order to start vaccinating children immediately.
For its part, 20 international relief organizations and health workers called in a joint statement on Thursday for an immediate ceasefire in the Strip to be able to provide polio vaccines.
Baxter pointed out that at least 50,000 children were born during the Israeli aggression on Gaza with low chance of vaccination due to the collapse of the health system, elaborating that “the return of the outbreak of polio virus in Gaza was a direct result of the destruction of water and sewage infrastructure and the restrictions imposed by the Israeli government.”
The virus was discovered for the first time in wastewater last July, while the registration of the first child with polio was announced last week, infecting a 10-month-old girl in Deir Al-Balah.
For its part, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip called for an immediate ceasefire in order to implement the polio vaccination campaign.
The Ministry stressed in a statement on Friday that the vaccination campaign would not be feasible without healthy water and personal hygiene supplies in light of the spread of wastewater in the displaced tents, and the lack of a healthy environment.
The World Health Organization and UNICEF said they have detailed plans to vaccinate 640,000 children across Gaza, starting from the end of this month.
The Director of Communications at UNRWA, Juliet Touma, said, “It is very difficult to conduct a vaccination campaign of this size under a sky full of airstrikes.”
