Gaza: Some 443,000 Children Vaccinated Against Polio
A nurse administers polio vaccine drops to Palestinian children at a UN school in Khan Yunis camp, southern Gaza Strip. Photo: EFE/EPA/HAITHAM IMAD
September 9, 2024 Hour: 6:24 pm
The first phase of the vaccination campaign in the Central Governorate achieved results that exceeded expectations because 195,000 children were inoculated, 35,000 more than planned.
On Monday, the polio campaign in Gaza is progressing after some 443,000 children under the age of 10 received their first dose of polio vaccine despite the continuing Israeli offensive in the Palestinian territory.
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The director general of primary health care at the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, Musa Abed, told reporters that the figure represents 69 per cent of the total number of children of that age in the coastal enclave.
The official highlighted the difficulties in carrying out the vaccination programme due to the aggression of the neighbouring country.
In this regard, he noted that for several days they have been awaiting Israeli approval of a request for coordination to reach seven other areas in the southern cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, which have been hard hit by the army’s aggression.
The first phase of the vaccination campaign in the Central Governorate achieved results that exceeded expectations because 195,000 children were inoculated, 35,000 more than planned.
Abed estimated that the increase was motivated by the high number of displaced persons due to military operations in other areas and evacuation orders issued by Israel.
He said medical teams vaccinated another 248,000 children in Rafah and Khan Yunis governorates.
Over the weekend, the acting director of information in Gaza for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Ines Hamdan, warned that the vaccination campaign faces numerous challenges, including continued aggression.
In addition, she told the Safa news agency in an interview that the vaccination teams may not be able to reach the assigned areas because of the war.
The initiative was launched in cooperation with Unrwa, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Children’s Fund and Palestinian health authorities with the aim of vaccinating some 640,000 children under the age of ten.
The project was approved following the announcement last month of the first case of polio in the coastal enclave in 25 years.
Numerous NGOs and UN institutions repeatedly denounced the spread of epidemics and infectious diseases in the Strip due to the lack of medicines, vaccines and hygiene tools, as well as the difficult health and living conditions of the Palestinians.
Autor: OSG
Fuente: The Independent - Al Jazeera