WHO spokesman Tarik Srevic appealed to all parties to a humanitarian ceasefire in areas where polio vaccination is being administered in the Gaza Strip.
He added – during the humanitarian segment on Tel Aviv Tribune – “According to the latest information, more than 86,000 children have been vaccinated against polio since yesterday morning when this first round began, according to workers at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).”
He explained, “After central Gaza, there will be a vaccination campaign in southern Gaza first and then in the north, where we aim to reach vaccinating more than 600,000 children, and after that there will be another round.”
According to the UN official, the vaccination campaign is going well with good participation from children, and there have been no security incidents, so “I believe that this campaign will be successful by reaching 90% of these children that we hope to reach in order to provide them with the vaccine.”
Challenges facing the health sector
“In a situation where there is military activity and shelling, where people have been displaced several times, and where there is also extensive damage to infrastructure, organizing such a campaign is a huge and difficult task,” said Serevitch. “But with the help of UNRWA, UNICEF and the Ministry of Health, we were able to train the people in this field, and to have a team of more than 500 people in the field to carry out this campaign.”
“But again, polio is just one health challenge facing people and children in Gaza, because there is still a big problem that hospitals are not able to do their job, and there are also a lot of problems related to lack of materials and resources, and pregnant women are not able to access the health care system; so polio, in his opinion, is just one of the health challenges facing people in Gaza,” he added.
Srevic explained that there is a plan in place to try to reach as many children as possible, saying, “Now we have centers and we have teams trying to reach children in their locations, but it is very complicated because people have been displaced many times and the roads are almost non-existent, but we have to do what is necessary.”
He noted that Gaza had not had polio for 25 years, but recently a case of a very young child who had been paralyzed emerged, “so we need to do everything to make this vaccination campaign a success and reach as many children as possible.”
Armistice guarantees
Regarding the guarantees for the continuation of the truce, Serevich said, “We have already received agreement from all parties that there will be 3 days available for each area in Gaza, and if we do not succeed, there will be another additional day. We are happy to have this humanitarian truce, but we need a permanent ceasefire so that the agencies working in this sector can provide health services to the people.”
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 72,611 children received the vaccination in the central governorate of the Gaza Strip, as part of the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip.
The campaign will continue for 3 days in each governorate of the Gaza Strip, with an additional fourth day to ensure that the largest possible number of Palestinian children are vaccinated.
10 health centers and 100 medical points participated in this campaign to provide their services in the Gaza Strip, with the participation of 1,100 doctors working in humanitarian agencies and organizations.