Geneva (Agencies)
The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced the successful completion of the first round of the polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip. Ghebreyesus said in a post on the social networking site “X”: “More than 560,000 children under the age of 10 received a first dose of the vaccine.” He added: “This is a tremendous success amidst the tragic daily reality of life throughout the Gaza Strip.” It is noteworthy that the organization and its partner groups negotiated a temporary ceasefire with Israel and Hamas to enable families to bring their children to vaccination centers, as well as to enable mobile vaccination teams to reach families. “The nine-hour humanitarian pause every day ensured the safety of communities and health workers, and enabled vaccination efforts to take place,” said the World Health Organization Representative, Richard Peeperkorn. He continued: “In areas where the humanitarian pause occurred, the campaign provided not only vaccines, but also moments of calm.”
There were no major incidents during the campaign, which lasted just under two weeks, and the children will need a second dose of the oral vaccine in four weeks to protect them from infection.
“As we prepare for the second round in four weeks, we hope that these truces will continue because this campaign has clearly shown the world what is possible if peace is given a chance,” Peeperkorn added. Jane Goff, UNICEF’s representative in Palestine, welcomed the progress made in the first round of vaccinations, but added that “the job is not done yet.” “We are ready to finish the job and we call on all stakeholders to ensure that we can do so in the second round in four weeks, for the sake of children everywhere,” she said. The campaign comes after three cases of polio were discovered in Gaza in July, the first recorded in the territory in 25 years.
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