Shaaban Bilal, Agencies (Gaza, New York)
The United Nations Special Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs and Reconstruction in Gaza, Sigrid Kaag, praised the humanitarian role played by the UAE in evacuating 252 patients from Gaza to receive medical care.
In a briefing to the members of the UN Security Council during yesterday’s meeting, Sigrid Kaag touched on the vaccination campaign being jointly implemented by the World Health Organization, UNRWA and UNICEF, stressing that the first round of the campaign has been successfully completed, while the second phase of the vaccination campaign will begin in about 4 weeks.
“The polio vaccination campaign has demonstrated that humanitarian action is possible even in the most difficult circumstances, with sufficient political will and commitment,” she said.
At the same time, Sigrid Kaag stressed the “deep responsibility” that the international community bears in addressing the tragedy in Gaza, describing the situation there as “regrettable, bleak and sad,” noting that there are more than 14,000 patients in need of treatment, and with winter approaching, addressing these humanitarian needs has become even more important.
She pointed out that the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza has worsened over the course of nearly a year of conflict, which has resulted in the killing of more than 41,000 Palestinians, and the wounding of 93,000, while more than 22,000 people are currently suffering from serious, life-changing injuries.
She said that the serious injuries to the limbs, which range between 13,000 and 17,000 injuries, often lead to amputation, which is a sad reflection of the tragedy resulting from this war, noting that the humanitarian crisis that Gaza is going through has led to the collapse of basic services, including health care and education, with 625,000 children out of school.
In a related context, the Commissioner-General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, said yesterday that the coverage rate achieved by the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza reached 90 percent, and the next challenge is to provide children with the second dose by the end of September.
“Rare positive news from Gaza, first round of polio vaccination campaign successfully completed,” Lazzarini said in a post on the X platform.
The campaign to immunize about 640,000 children under the age of 10 in the Gaza Strip has posed a major challenge for UNRWA and its partners due to the war.
In this context, the Director of the UNRWA Media Office in Gaza, Enas Hamdan, said that the agency, in cooperation with its partners, succeeded in immunizing hundreds of thousands of children against polio, and the coverage rate reached 90% of the children in the Strip.
Hamdan explained in special statements to Al-Ittihad that in the first round, children in the central, southern and northern regions of the Strip were vaccinated, despite the challenges and difficult circumstances, and thanks to the efforts and dedication of UNRWA employees and their partners.
She pointed out that the next challenge is to provide the second dose, which will be necessary in the coming weeks, expressing her hope that the conditions will be prepared to complete the vaccination and ensure that the second dose of vaccines reaches all children under the age of ten.
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