Palestinian Ministry of Health Announces First Confirmed Case of Polio in Gaza Strip

Ramallah, The Palestinian Ministry of Health on Friday recorded the first confirmed case of polio in the southern governorates of the Gaza Strip, in Deir al-Balah city for a ten-month-old child who did not receive any vaccination dose against this disease. The ministry said, in a statement, that doctors suspected the presence of symptoms consistent with polio, and after conducting the necessary tests in the Jordanian capital, Amman, the infection with the polio virus strain derived from the vaccine was confirmed, stressing that it will implement a vaccination campaign in the coming few days targeting children under the age of 10 years. It stated that one million and two hundred thousand doses of the second type of polio vaccine were provided in coordination with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), noting that work is underway to provide another four hundred thousand doses. It also stressed that the continued brutal Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has resulted in a health disaster, as attested by international organizations. The lack of basic hygiene needs, the lack of sanitation services, the accumulation of waste in the streets and around the shelters for the displaced, and the lack of safe drinking water have created an environment conducive to the spread and transmission of many epidemics, including waterborne diseases such as vaccine-derived polio. The ministry renewed its appeal to the international community and international health organizations to quickly intervene to immediately stop the brutal Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and to work on preparing the field conditions in order to save what can be saved, and to provide healthcare services immediately to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Earlier Friday, the Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres, warned of the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza with the spread of the polio virus and its threat to hundreds of thousands of children, noting that the United Nations is preparing to launch a vital vacci nation campaign against this disease in the Strip for the benefit of more than 640,000 children under the age of 10. Source: Qatar News Agency