Almost 80 percent of children in the northern Gaza Strip vaccinated against polio

MADRID 5 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reported this Monday that 94,000 children, that is, almost 80 percent of the minors in the northern Gaza Strip, have already been completely inoculated with polio. , within the framework of the third phase of the vaccination campaign against this disease that began on Saturday.

“Although the attacks have affected the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza, more than 94,000 children have already been vaccinated. This represents around 79 percent of the target for the second round,” he announced. the organization in its social network account X.

In the same message, the agency has called for a “now” and “lasting” ceasefire beyond the humanitarian pauses since, otherwise, Gazan children “will continue to suffer and die.”

This announcement comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) this Monday denounced a new attack against the Kamal Aduán Hospital, in the north of the Gaza Strip, which has injured six children.

The attack, said the director general of the organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, occurred “while parents were taking their children to the life-saving polio vaccination, in an area where a humanitarian pause was agreed upon,” scheduled between 6:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. (local time).

The Polio Technical Committee for Gaza resumed this Saturday the third phase of the vaccination campaign, which had been postponed since October 23 due to the lack of security guarantees.

In this phase, which concluded on Monday, 216 teams and more than 200 social “mobilizers” participated to raise awareness among families about vaccination efforts.

In the center and south of the Gaza Strip, 451,216 children have also been vaccinated, that is, 96 percent of the target in these areas.

Eradicated in Gaza 25 years ago, polio reappeared earlier this year amid the multiple humanitarian crises triggered by the Israeli offensive in the Palestinian enclave, triggered after the attacks by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, 2023. .