A campaign to provide polio doses to Palestinian refugees will be organized by the United Nations, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund. There is a plan to vaccinate one lakh 19 thousand children under 10 years of age.
The campaign in central and southern Gaza has completed the second dose of polio vaccination for 450,000 children. However, the second phase in the northern Gaza Strip has been delayed by heavy bombardment, evacuation orders and no assurances of a cessation of hostilities on humanitarian grounds.
Gaza has been at war for the past year, and a few months ago a case of polio after years was reported, prompting a rapid push for vaccination.
The WHO warned on Friday that access to those needed is difficult and that vaccine dose targets may not be fully achieved.
About 15,000 children under the age of 10 are still in Jabalia, Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, but the chances of reaching them are currently slim.
The success of this campaign is questionable because of the safety cycle of the polio vaccine. It is said that at least 90 percent of children of the total population should be vaccinated to prevent the spread of the polio virus.
critical situation
Lewis Wateridge, a senior official at the United Nations Emergency Management Agency, told UN News that the situation in Gaza is bad, with occasional explosions.
“The situation here is getting really serious. Frustration is evident everywhere… Colleagues I’ve talked to don’t know what to do. They don’t know where to go.”
The UN agency is engaged in providing assistance to communities facing sensitive situations in war-torn Gaza. The Israeli parliament recently passed two bills to ban UNRWA, drawing condemnation from the United Nations and the humanitarian community.
Supporters of the UN agency insist that UN relief and action agencies have an important role to play in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Emergency services closed
At the same time, the UN humanitarian office reported that relief supplies and services in northern Gaza had almost completely stalled. Relief operations have been challenged by Israeli military blockades, insecurity, limited supplies and the displacement of aid workers.
According to Louis Wateridge, more than a million people have been forced to flee northern Gaza to Gaza City in search of safety in the past few weeks.
They have taken refuge in schools, buildings and makeshift shelters, while 75,000 people are still estimated to be in northern Gaza.
There has been no electricity or fuel supply since October 1, leaving the Jabalia refugee camp to operate with only two water wells out of eight. Any bakeries or public kitchens are also closed.
Of the 20 health facilities, only two centers and two hospitals are partially functioning, while rescue operations have come to a complete standstill.