Head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed deep concern over the development, saying the baby, from Deir Al Balah, had developed paralysis in the lower left leg, but his condition is now stable.
In an online post, Tedros added that the UN health agency had confirmed through genomic sequencing that the girl’s infection was linked to the poliovirus type 2 variant, which was found in environmental samples collected from Gaza’s wastewater in June.
High risk of spreading
He said that given the high risk of the spread of the polio virus in Gaza and the region, the Palestinian health authorities, together with WHO and the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF“working towards implementing two rounds of polio vaccination in the coming weeks to stop transmission”.
The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWAadded that its medical teams will support the delivery of vaccines to its clinics and mobile health teams, in collaboration with WHO and UNICEF.
UNRWA is the largest aid agency in the Gaza Strip and remains a major player in health care, providing health care through 10 primary health centres and up to 100 mobile health points.
The development comes as the top UN relief official in the occupied Palestinian territories warned that mass evacuations in Gaza are “choking people’s survival” and continue to seriously hamper aid efforts.
In August alone, Israeli forces issued “twelve evacuation orders, causing almost 250,000 people to move again“, said Muhannad Hadi, Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Facing danger
“If evacuation orders are intended to protect civilians, the fact is that they have the exact opposite effect.” he insisted. “They are forcing families to flee once again, often under fire and with the few belongings they can carry with them, to an ever-shrinking area that is overcrowded, polluted, with limited services and – like the rest of Gaza – unsafe.”
Because people are repeatedly uprooted, they also lose access to services that are ‘essential to their survival’.including medical facilities, shelters, water wells and humanitarian aid,” Mr. Hadi continued.
© UNRWA
A school in Gaza used as a bomb shelter shows severe damage from a bomb.
Evacuation orders remain in effect
WHO has purchased more than $400,000 worth of infection prevention and control supplies, including chlorine tablets, hygiene products and gloves. These items have already been delivered to five hospitals, with plans to reach two more in the coming weeks, the UN spokesman told correspondents in New York on Friday.
“However, we continue to raise the alarm that the repeated evacuation orders are seriously disrupting relief efforts in Gaza,” said Stéphane Dujarric.
Meanwhile, the amount of food aid entering southern Gaza in July was among the lowest in the past 10 months, aid agencies said.
“They warn that active hostilities, damaged roads, limited access and a lack of public order and security have led to serious food shortages.”
Acute malnutrition is increasing
The number of children diagnosed with acute malnutrition in northern Gaza rose by more than 300 percent last month compared to May – and by more than 150 percent in southern Gaza.
The World Food Programme (World Food Programme) said the agency had reached some 370,000 people a week ago with partial food parcels and wheat flour this month, Mr Dujarric continued. However, distribution in Rafah is “sadly rare” due to fighting between Palestinian militants and Israeli forces.
WFP also distributed more than 4.4 million hot meals in Gaza this month through approximately 60 community kitchens.
The Agency for Humanitarian Affairs OCHA It was also reported on Friday that in July the percentage of humanitarian movements rejected by Israeli authorities more than doubled from seven to 15 percent, severely hampering the delivery of aid.
“This is despite the fact that the total number of humanitarian missions coordinated by the Israeli authorities has increased from 414 in June to more than 540 in July.”
OCHA said that 43 percent of the nearly 150 planned humanitarian aid missions to northern Gaza this month were facilitated by Israeli authorities, while the rest were denied, obstructed or cancelled.
