Head of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus expressed deep concern at the development and said
that the infant, from Deir Al Balah, developed paralysis in the
lower left leg but is now in a stable condition.
In an online post, Tedros added that the UN health agency had
confirmed via genomic sequencing that the girl's infection was
linked to the poliovirus type 2 variant, detected in
environmental samples collected in June from Gaza wastewater.
High risk of spread
He said that given the high risk of poliovirus spread in Gaza and
the region, the Palestinian health authorities together with the
WHO and the UN Children's Fund, UNICEF, “are working to
implement two rounds of polio vaccination in the coming weeks to
halt transmission”.
The UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA, added that its
medical teams will support the delivery of vaccines to its
clinics and mobile health teams, in partnership with WHO and
UNICEF.
UNRWA is the largest aid agency in the Gaza Strip and remains a
major actor in the health sector, providing health services
across 10 primary health centres and up to 100 mobile medical
points.
The development comes as the UN's top aid official in the
Occupied Palestinian Territory warned that mass evacuations in
Gaza “choke (people's) survival” and continue to severely
constrain aid operations.
During August alone, Israeli forces “issued 12 evacuation orders,
forcing almost 250,000 people to move yet
again”, said Muhannad Hadi,
Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
Running into danger
“If evacuation orders are meant to protect civilians, the
fact is that they are leading to the exact opposite,” he
insisted. “They are forcing families to flee again, often under
fire and with the few belongings they can carry with them, into
an ever-shrinking area that is overcrowded, polluted, with
limited services and – like the rest of Gaza – unsafe.”
Because of being repeatedly uprooted, people are also
unable to access services “essential for their survival,
including medical facilities, shelters, water wells and
humanitarian supplies”, Mr. Hadi continued.
