UN agencies, along with local health authorities in Gaza, have embarked on a significant campaign to vaccinate 640,000 children against polio.
This initiative depends on temporary ceasefires between Israeli forces and Hamas, with the first pause scheduled to start on Sunday.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stresses that at least 90% of children under the age of 10 must be immunized quickly for the campaign to be effective.
The urgency follows the identification of the first confirmed case of polio in Gaza in 25 years. A UN expert has warned that more children are likely infected, and without swift action, there could be a broader regional outbreak.
One of the children affected is Abdulrahman Abu Judyan, who was diagnosed with polio, leaving him partially paralyzed in one leg. His mother, Niveen, who resides in a crowded tent camp in central Gaza, is deeply concerned about his future mobility. “It was very shocking,” she said, reflecting on the diagnosis. “I wasn’t expecting this. Now he may not be able to crawl or walk, and he was left without proper medical care.”
Abdulrahman missed his routine vaccinations on October 7th, the same day a deadly Hamas-led attack on southern Israel resulted in 1,200 deaths. Since then, the family has been forced to move five times within Gaza, from the north to the centre, then to Rafah in the south, and back to Deir al-Balah.
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With 90% of Gazans displaced and health services severely strained, many children, like Abdulrahman, have missed their regular immunizations, leaving them susceptible to infections.
Niveen expresses guilt over the missed vaccination but says, “I couldn’t give it to him because of our circumstances.” She hopes for a chance to take her son outside Gaza for treatment. “He wants to live and walk like other children,” she adds.
The harsh living conditions, including the lack of clean drinking water and the presence of raw sewage near their makeshift tent, create an environment ripe for the spread of diseases like polio, which is highly contagious.
Since detecting the virus in wastewater samples in June, UN agencies have been urgently working to launch a mass vaccination campaign.
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