UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 24, (Xinhua/GNA) — Relief agencies, facing a high risk of polio spreading in the wider Gaza region, have begun preparations for a vaccination campaign, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the UN relief agency for Palestine refugees, known as UNRWA, and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) are working with the Gaza Ministry of Health to administer in the coming weeks two rounds of oral polio vaccine, to more than 640,000 children under 10 years of age.
Stephane Dujarric, chief spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told reporters during a regular briefing that humanitarians, moved refrigerated trucks into Gaza in preparation to maintain the cold chain necessary for the vaccine. Dujarric said the world body already has medical staff in place to administer doses. The vaccine has not arrived.
He said the aim is for a humanitarian pause in the conflict, so the staff and children would be safe during the campaign later this month and in early September.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini, warned that delaying a humanitarian pause will increase the risk of polio spreading among children. It is not enough to bring the vaccines into Gaza and protect the cold chain — the vaccines must also end up in the mouths of every child under the age of 10.
UNRWA medical teams will deliver the vaccines in the agency’s clinics and through its mobile health teams.
OCHA said, following the Gaza Health Ministry confirming that a 10-month-old baby in Deir al Balah has polio, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed it is the first case in Gaza in 25 years.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the child is in stable condition, but has developed paralysis in the lower left leg.
The agency warns that disrupted water and sanitation systems in Gaza, including at hospitals, are increasing the risk of infectious diseases. “WHO has procured more than 400,000 U.S. dollars of infection prevention and control supplies, including chlorine tablets, hygiene products, and gloves,” OCHA said.
“These items have already been delivered to five hospitals, with plans to reach two others in the coming weeks.” However, the humanitarians said repeated Israeli evacuation orders continue to severely disrupt aid operations in Gaza.
OCHA said three evacuation orders were issued on Wednesday and Thursday, affecting 15 neighborhoods in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis.
Initial mapping showed the areas included nearly 150 displacement locations, mostly informal sites.
The latest evacuation directives bring the total number of orders issued in August to 13.
The office said that humanitarian partners fighting hunger reported the amount of food assistance that entered southern Gaza in July was one of the lowest recorded in the past 10 months.
They warn that active hostilities, damaged roads, access constraints, and a lack of public order and safety have led to critical food shortages. “Children are paying the heaviest price — with poor diet and the decimation of health-care services and water, sanitation and hygiene infrastructure raising the risk of malnutrition and disease,” OCHA said. “An assessment by UNICEF in July found that just 1 percent of children in northern Gaza — and only 6 percent in the south — received the recommended dietary diversity.” The office said humanitarian partners working to provide nutrition reported the number of children in northern Gaza who were diagnosed with acute malnutrition soared by over 300 percent last month, compared to May — and by more than 150 percent in the south.
Without unfettered humanitarian access that allows a significant scale-up of support, hunger and malnutrition will only worsen.
The World Food Programme (WFP) reported that as of a week ago, the agency reached 370,000 people with partial food parcels and wheat flour this month. However, distributions in Rafah are rare due to the ongoing conflict. WFP distributed more than 4.4 million hot meals across Gaza this month through 60 community kitchens, reaching an estimated 78,000 people, the vast majority in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah. OCHA said the percentage of humanitarian movements denied by Israeli authorities last month more than doubled from 7 to 15 percent, severely hampering efforts to reach people with critical support quickly.
The office said as of Thursday, only 43 percent of nearly 150 planned humanitarian assistance missions to northern Gaza were facilitated by Israeli authorities this month.
The Israelis denied, impeded or canceled the remainder, due to security, operational or logistical reasons.
In southern Gaza, less than half of almost 280 coordinated aid movements were facilitated by the Israeli authorities this month.
In the West Bank, OCHA said the WFP warned that escalating violence there could push the number of people facing food insecurity up to 600,000.
WFP expanded its food voucher program fivefold in the West Bank and is prepared to reach as many as 200,000 people with cash-based transfers by the end of the month.
GNA