Watan-The campaign, led by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in collaboration with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and other partners, began on September 1st in the central region of Gaza.<\/p>\n
Wael Al-Hajj Mohammed\u2019s daughter is benefiting from oral polio vaccinations against type 2 polio at one of UNRWA’s clinics in Nuseirat Camp, central Gaza, as part of the first phase of the two-phase campaign aimed at vaccinating 640,000 children.<\/p>\n
Holding his infant daughter, Wael told our correspondent Ziad Taleb, who was present at the UNRWA health center, “We hope this vaccination will protect our children, especially since my daughter was born on the second day of the war. I struggled with the vaccinations she has received so far, and that’s why I’m here today so that my daughter can receive the polio vaccine to protect her from the disease.”<\/p>\n
Wael Al-Hajj Mohammed carries his daughter to a UNRWA clinic in Nuseirat Camp, central Gaza, to receive the polio vaccine.<\/p>\n
On the first day of the vaccination campaign, UNRWA confirmed that, together with its partners, it was able to vaccinate 87,000 children against the disease, which appeared in the Gaza Strip for the first time in 25 years. The case was reported in a 10-month-old displaced child named Abdul Rahman Abu Jadian, who was with his family.<\/p>\n
UNRWA’s Health Director, Akihiro Saita, expressed his regret over the discovery of the first case of the disease in the region. He also reminded that when sewage water was tested in a laboratory designated by WHO\u2014 a procedure carried out worldwide to ensure the absence of the polio virus\u2014they discovered the presence of type 2 polio.<\/p>\n
Saita told our correspondent that “to stop this outbreak and prevent people from suffering from this preventable disease, we need to vaccinate 90 percent of children under the age of 10.”<\/p>\n
To prevent the spread and alleviate suffering, parents are rushing to centers offering vaccinations against the disease, aware of the difficult circumstances they face amid a war that has been ongoing for more than 10 months.<\/p>\n
Among them is Hanadi Rizk, who came to the UNRWA clinic in Nuseirat Camp to vaccinate her infant daughter.<\/p>\n
Hanadi said, “With the virus spreading in such conditions, amid overcrowding, lack of cleaning supplies or clean places, and the spread of sewage, we found that the right decision is to vaccinate our children to protect them.”<\/p>\n
Hanadi Rizk came to a UNRWA clinic in Nuseirat Camp, central Gaza, so her infant daughter could receive the polio vaccine.<\/p>\n
UNRWA confirmed in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday that its teams are carrying out a “highly complex” polio vaccination campaign, adding that “temporary ceasefires are essential for its success in the coming weeks.”<\/p>\n
UNRWA spokesperson Louise Whittredge said, “One of the biggest challenges is distributing the vaccines safely because we have some areas in what are called humanitarian truce zones between 6 a.m. and 2 p.m., where there should be no fighting.”<\/p>\n
She added, “We are still struggling to reach facilities, families, and children in those areas. It’s extremely dangerous for them to travel and move around as there is ongoing fighting.”<\/p>\n
She pointed out that there were strikes on Monday morning and throughout Sunday night, adding, “So the fighting has not stopped by any means. There are some pauses during the day, but they are not guaranteed. We have no guarantee of safety for the people, and we really need that to reach all children to achieve a 90 percent coverage rate for the campaign.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Watan-The campaign, led by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in collaboration with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and other partners, began on September 1st in the central region of Gaza. Wael Al-Hajj Mohammed\u2019s daughter is benefiting from oral polio vaccinations against type 2 …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10177,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[639,3186,3187],"class_list":["post-10175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-gaza","tag-polio-vaccination","tag-unrwa-health-campaign"],"yoast_head":"\n