WHO chef Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted that it had been “a huge success amidst the tragic daily reality of life“for more than two million Gazans who have been embroiled in heavy fighting since the Hamas terrorist attacks last October that sparked the war in Gaza.
In three phases over 12 days, from 1 to 12 September, UN agencies and partners provided the novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (nOPV2) to approximately 558,963 children. The vaccine reached families living in shelters, tents and camps for internally displaced persons.
Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, welcomed the “incredible resilience” of health and community workers in carrying out the campaign “on an unprecedented scale and speed under the most difficult conditions” in the war-torn enclave.
“The rapid action of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – from the moment the virus was discovered to the start of the vaccination campaign – is a testament to the effectiveness of the polio program,” he said. said.
Moments of peace
For each of the phases – central, southern and northern Gaza – an area-specific humanitarian pause of nine hours per day was agreed to ensure the safety of communities and health workers and to enable vaccination efforts.
“In areas where humanitarian pauses occurred, the campaign brought not only vaccines but also moments of calm,” said Dr. Peeperkorn.
“As we prepare for the next round in four weeks, we hope that these breaks will continue.because this campaign has clearly shown the world what is possible when peace is given a chance,” he added.
The second round will administer a second dose of the nOPV2 virus to children in Gaza to stop the outbreak and prevent its international spread.
Although the programme faced challenges such as destroyed roads and health facilities, access problems, limited fuel, a shortage of trained health workers and ongoing population displacement, these were addressed in a timely manner with support from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the UN Relief and Works Agency.UNRWA).
Unfinished business
Jean Gough, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Palestine, welcomed the progress made in the first round and stressed that the “the job is far from done“.
“We are ready to complete the task and call on all stakeholders to ensure that we can do so in the next round in four weeks, for the benefit of children everywhere,” she said.
To reach enough children and successfully stop further spread of the polio virus, WHO, UNICEF and UNRWA have called on all parties to the conflict to commit to a new round of humanitarian pauses, with unhindered access to children in areas requiring special coordination.
Original purpose
WHO noted that the original target for the campaign – 640,000 children – estimated without careful investigation and possibly an overestimateas a result of displacement and ongoing hostilities.
The agency added that an additional 65 independent observers will be deployed to monitor the percentage of vaccinated children in the Gaza Strip and to independently assess the level of coverage achieved in the first round.
They need safe, unhindered access so they can visit households, markets, transfer points and health facilities to check children for the distinctive purple dye that is on their little fingers when they are vaccinated, the report said.
These efforts will provide an independent measure of the percentage of vaccination coverage achieved and the extent to which children have been missed.
UNRWA worker killed in West Bank
However, the ongoing conflict continues to claim civilian lives, displace thousands and destroy homes and civilian infrastructure. The United Nations has also lost more than 220 UNRWA staff – killed during the Israeli offensive following the October 7 terrorist attacks by Hamas and other militants.
On Thursday, UNRWA lost another staff member, killed in the El Far’a camp in the northern West Bank, the first such killing in the region in more than a decade.
According to the agency, the staff member, a cleaner, was shot dead by a sniper on the roof of his home during a nighttime Israeli military operation in the early morning. He is survived by his wife and five children.
“This is the first time in over a decade that a UNRWA staff member has been killed in the West Bank. It comes at a time when the West Bank is experiencing unprecedented levels of violence, putting communities at risk,” said Roland Friedrich, UNRWA Director of Affairs in the West Bank in a statement. proposition.
He noted that prolonged Israeli military operations, mainly affecting the camps of El Far’a, Tulkarm, Nur Shams and Jenin, have forced UNRWA to suspend services to refugees “due to the unacceptable risk to staff and beneficiaries during these operations”.
Mr Friedrich also raised concerns about the use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by Palestinian armed actors.