Ramallah, August 18 – Palestinian health authorities are preparing today for a polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, after the first case was discovered in 25 years as a result of the devastation caused by the Israeli aggression on the Strip.
Palestinian Minister of the Gaza Strip Majed Abu Ramadan announced in a press conference that the operation will begin in the coming days with the support of several UN agencies, including the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund.
He explained that the plan aims to vaccinate all children under the age of ten in that area.
Last week, the first case of polio was announced in a 10-month-old child from the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Given this situation, Abu Ramadan warned of the possibility of hundreds more cases in the region. The minister considered that the brutal Israeli aggression is responsible for this crisis because it caused an unprecedented health disaster in the coastal strip.
In this regard, he pointed out the increase in diseases there due to the lack of medicine, drinking water, health services, and the accumulation of waste in the streets and around the crowded shelters.
The official called on the world to intervene to stop this barbaric attack and create conditions to save lives.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Friday for a humanitarian ceasefire to begin a polio vaccination campaign for more than 640,000 children in the area.
“Preventing and containing the spread of polio will require a massive, coordinated and urgent effort,” Guterres said when announcing the agency’s readiness to begin the vaccination campaign.
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