WHO: More than 189,000 children vaccinated against polio in Gaza

Geneva - Ma'an - The World Health Organization announced today, Wednesday, that more than 189,000 children have been vaccinated as part of the polio vaccination campaign that began early September in the central Gaza Strip. The Director-General of the organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, indicated in a post on the "X" platform that the first phase of the polio vaccination campaign in the middle of the sector had ended. "More than 189,000 children under the age of 10 have been vaccinated, well above the target of 156,500 children," he said. He said the vaccination campaign will continue for another 3 days in 4 fixed centres to ensure that there are no unvaccinated children in this area. Ghebreyesus pointed out that preparations are ongoing to start the vaccination campaign in the southern Gaza Strip tomorrow, Thursday, which is scheduled to extend to all areas of the Strip until September 12. 'We are grateful for the dedicated efforts of all the families, healthcare workers and vaccinators who made t his part of the campaign a success despite the difficult conditions in the Gaza Strip,' he added. The Director-General of the World Health Organization renewed his call on the parties concerned to continue to fulfill their commitments to a "humanitarian pause in the conflict" and a ceasefire in Gaza. On August 25, the Ministry of Health in Gaza announced the arrival of the first batch of vaccines, numbering 1.26 million doses. On August 16, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a 7-day humanitarian truce to implement a polio campaign targeting 640,000 children, directly supported by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). This call came after the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced the registration of the first confirmed case of polio virus in the Gaza Strip, in a 10-month-old child. Over the months of war, health and human rights organizations have warned of the spread of diseases and epidemics in the Strip due to the shortage of medicines and vac cinations, and the difficult health and living conditions experienced by the displaced. Source: Maan News Agency