{"id":1484424,"date":"2024-08-18T18:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-18T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/?p=1484424"},"modified":"2024-08-18T18:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-08-18T22:00:00","slug":"who-raises-outbreak-alarm-as-once-eradicated-polio-returns-to-gaza","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/who-raises-outbreak-alarm-as-once-eradicated-polio-returns-to-gaza\/1484424\/","title":{"rendered":"WHO Raises Outbreak Alarm\u00a0As Once Eradicated Polio Returns To Gaza"},"content":{"rendered":"

WHO Raises Outbreak Alarm\u00a0As Once Eradicated Polio Returns To Gaza<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Authored by Brett Wilkins via Common Dreams,<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Following over a month of warnings,\u00a0Gaza\u00a0recorded its first case of polio since the highly contagious virus was eradicated there 25 years ago<\/strong>, prompting a Friday call by United Nations Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres for a temporary truce<\/strong> to enable a vaccination drive in the embattled strip.<\/p>\n

The Gaza Health Ministry\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0Friday that an 10-month-old infant in the central city of Deir al-Balah<\/strong> “who has not received any polio vaccine dose” has tested positive for the virus, which often causes paralysis and can be fatal. The ministry said the baby is one of “a number of children” who have presented with symptoms consistent with polio in recent days.<\/p>\n

Via AFP<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

“The continued brutal Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has caused a health disaster<\/strong> as witnessed by international organizations,” the ministry added, citing “the lack of basic hygiene needs, the lack of sanitation services<\/strong>, the accumulation of waste on the streets and around the shelters of the displaced, and the lack of safe drinking water” as factors that “have created a conducive environment for outbreaks<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Responding to the news, Guterres implored Israeli and Palestinian forces to lay down their arms so that U.N. humanitarian aid workers can launch a campaign to vaccinate half a million Gazan children.<\/p>\n

“I am appealing to all parties to provide concrete assurances right away guaranteeing humanitarian pauses for the campaign<\/strong>,” he\u00a0told reporters<\/a>\u00a0at the U.N. headquarters in New York.<\/p>\n

“Let’s be clear: The ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian cease-fire,” Guterres stressed. “But in any case, a polio pause is a must.”<\/strong><\/p>\n

The U.N. World Health Organization and other groups\u00a0sounded the alarm<\/a>\u00a0after poliovirus type 2 was found in Gaza wastewater last month<\/strong>. The discovery prompted the\u00a0Israel<\/a>\u00a0Defense Forces to\u00a0offer polio vaccines<\/a>\u00a0to its soldiers taking part in the invasion<\/strong> of the coastal enclave. Earlier this month, the Gaza Health Ministry\u00a0declared<\/a>\u00a0the entire strip a “polio epidemic zone.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Guterres said Friday that Gaza’s health, water, and sanitation systems “have been decimated”<\/strong> by Israeli attacks, which have destroyed or damaged most hospitals and primary care facilities and created fertile ground for the spread of disease.<\/p>\n

As Leslie Roberts\u00a0wrote recently<\/a>\u00a0for\u00a0Science<\/em>:<\/p>\n

The poliovirus is transmitted through the “fecal-oral” route<\/strong>\u2014by contact with the feces of an infected child or consumption of water or food contaminated by fecal matter. The conditions in which the 1.9 million displaced Gazans are living\u2014crammed into unhygienic camps with little access to clean water and sanitation and untreated sewage flowing openly between tents\u2014create an ideal environment for the virus to thrive.<\/em><\/p>\n

Since the war began in October 2023, 70% of water and sanitation facilities in Gaza have been significantly damaged, and about 340,000 tons of solid waste have accumulated in or near populated areas<\/strong>, according to an estimate from the U.N. Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Cluster. In June, Oxfam estimated there is just one toilet for every 4,130 people in Al-Mawasi, a supposed “safe zone” west of Khan Younis that recently came under Israeli attack.<\/em><\/p>\n

In addition to polio, Israel’s assault on Gaza and its disruption of medical supplies have fueled the spread of other preventable diseases including measles and hepatitis A.<\/p>\n

A delegation from the UN finally made it into North Gaza. The video footage from the car shows a harrowing level of destruction. pic.twitter.com\/wDRljMh8MR<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 AHMED | \u0623\u062d\u0645\u062f (@ASE) August 17, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

“We know how an effective polio vaccination campaign must be administered,” Guterres said. “Given the wholesale devastation in Gaza, at least 95% vaccination coverage will be needed during each round of the two-round campaign to prevent polio’s spread and reduce its emergence<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

The Gaza Health Ministry said that it has been working with the U.N. and other international organizations “over the past weeks on developing an integrated comprehensive plan for the implementation of an expanded polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip,” and that it will “carry out a vaccination campaign in the next few days targeting children under the age of 10.”<\/p>\n

Children, who make up around half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people, have been\u00a0particularly hard-hit<\/a>\u00a0by Israel’s 316-day Gaza onslaught. More than 16,000 of the at least 40,000 Palestinians killed by Israeli bombs and bullets are minors. The “complete siege<\/a>” of Gaza\u2014which has been\u00a0entered as evidence<\/a>\u00a0in the International Court of Justice genocide trial against Israel\u2014has disrupted the entry of food, medicine, and other vital supplies, fueling a\u00a0famine<\/a>\u00a0that has\u00a0killed<\/a>\u00a0dozens of Palestinian children.<\/p>\n

The Gaza Health Ministry said 1.1 million doses of a two-dose, orally administered type 2 polio vaccine have been provided by the United Nations Children’s Fund, with another 400,000 doses on the way<\/strong>. UNICEF said it “is coordinating delivery efforts and the cold chain equipment needed for storage.”<\/p>\n

Medical teams from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for\u00a0Palestine<\/a>\u00a0Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)\u2014which is the largest healthcare provider in Gaza, even as Israeli forces have\u00a0killed<\/a>\u00a0around 200 of its workers\u2014said they are ready to administer the polio vaccines and assist in their distribution.<\/p>\n

The Gaza Health Ministry renewed its “appeal to the international community and the international health organizations to speed up intervention to immediately stop the barbaric Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, work to prepare the ground conditions in order to rescue what can be salvaged, and provide immediate healthcare services to… our people.”<\/p>\n

As the poliovirus is now circulating in Gaza, the @UN<\/a> is poised to launch a vaccine campaign for more than 640,000 children.<\/p>\n

It’s impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign amid a raging war.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s be clear: The ultimate vaccine for polio in Gaza is peace and an\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/gle5FZDzTt<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Ant\u00f3nio Guterres (@antonioguterres) August 16, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n

The agency also made an “urgent appeal” for “the necessity of immediate action to rebuild safe drinking water and sanitation systems, dispose of medical and solid waste, work on importing fuel to pump clean fresh water, and allow unconditional entry of medical supplies, medicines, and special materials used for personal hygiene.”<\/p>\n

Guterres underscored the need to “defeat a vicious virus that, left unchecked, would have a disastrous effect not only for Palestinian children in Gaza,\u00a0but also in neighboring countries and the region<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

“Polio does not care about dividing lines, and polio does not wait,” he said. “Polio goes beyond politics. It transcends all divisions. And so it is our shared obligation to come together. To mobilize\u2014not to fight people, but to fight polio.” However, he stressed, “it is impossible to conduct a polio vaccination campaign with war raging all over<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

“A successful polio vaccination campaign needs safety,” Guterres added. “Safety for health workers to do their jobs. Safety for children and families to get to the health facilities. And safety for those health facilities to be protected from bombardment.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Tyler Durden<\/a><\/span>
\nSun, 08\/18\/2024 – 14:00<\/span><\/p>\n

\u200bhttps:\/\/www.zerohedge.com\/medical\/who-raises-outbreak-alarm-once-eradicate-polio-returns-gaza<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

WHO Raises Outbreak Alarm\u00a0As Once Eradicated Polio Returns To Gaza Authored by Brett Wilkins via Common Dreams, Following over a month of warnings,\u00a0Gaza\u00a0recorded its first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1484425,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1484424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1484424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1484424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1484425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1484424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1484424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bugaluu.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1484424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}