UNITED NATIONS, Feb 20 (APP): The World Health Organization (WHO), a Geneva-based UN agency, announced Wednesday that the mass polio vaccination campaign in Gaza which began successfully last year, will continue in the coming days.
WHO said in a news release that more than 591,000 children under 10 years old will receive the vaccine to protect them from the highly infectious disease, beginning this weekend for an anticipated period of five days.
The campaign follows the recent detection of poliovirus in waste water samples in the shattered enclave which signal that the infection is still circulating in the enclave and putting children at risk.
“Individuals with low or no immunity provide the virus an opportunity to continue spreading and potentially cause disease,” WHO said.
The UN health agency added that dreadful sanitary conditions in Gaza which include overcrowding in shelters and severely damaged water and sewer networks had created “ideal conditions for further spread of poliovirus”.
The mass return of people to north and south Gaza during the ongoing ceasefire is also likely to increase the spread of polio, WHO warned.
The campaign will be led by the Palestinian Ministry of Health with support from WHO, UN children’s agency UNICEF, the Palestine refugee relief agency (UNRWA) and other partners.
The agency stressed that polio vaccines are safe and there is no maximum number of times a child should be vaccinated, with each dose providing extra protection. An additional round of shots is planned for April.