World Health Organisation to send more than one million polio vaccine doses to Gaza

UN health body calls for ceasefire to allow immunisation drive for 600,000 children in war-torn enclave

An UNRWA employee vaccinates a child in Bureij refugee camp, central Gaza, during a previous campaign. AFP

The World Health Organisation is preparing to launch a polio vaccination campaign in war-torn Gaza after the virus was detected in the Palestinian territory's wastewater.

“WHO is sending more than one million polio vaccines which will be administered in the coming weeks,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the organisation's director general, said on Wednesday.

“The detection of polio in wastewater in Gaza is a telltale sign that the virus has been circulating in the community, putting unvaccinated children at risk.”

Dr Tedros said the WHO and the UN agencies for children and Palestinian refugees, Unicef and UNRWA, were preparing two rounds of polio vaccination campaigns for 600,000 children under the age of eight in co-ordination with local health authorities.

“We need absolute freedom of movement for health workers and medical equipment to carry out these complex operations safely and effectively,” he said.

“A ceasefire, or at least days of tranquillity during preparation and delivery of the vaccination campaigns, are required to protect children in Gaza from polio.”

No clinical cases have been detected so far.

Andrea King, from the WHO's global health cluster team, said the vaccination campaign would be a “huge logistical challenge”.

“It's vaccines as well as the associated cold chain supplies that are needed to enter Gaza … as well as the micro-planning within Gaza,” she told a press conference.

“The hope is that if everything lines up, these will arrive in time for the planned vaccination dates later this month, the first round to start on August 17.”

On July 30, the Gaza Health Ministry declared the Palestinian territory to be a “polio epidemic zone”, blaming the reappearance of the virus on Israel's military offensive and the resulting destruction of health facilities.

The ministry said the virus was detected in wastewater samples taken in the Khan Younis region in the south of the strip, as well as in areas of central Gaza.

Inoculation campaigns came to halt after Israel launched a military offensive in response to the October 7 attacks by Hamas, which has destroyed sewage infrastructure and disrupted waste-collection services in the enclave.

Thousands of tonnes of rubbish have accumulated since then, creating conditions suitable for the spread of disease.

Compounding the crisis has been the displacement of the majority of Gaza's population, which has deprived them of clean water and sanitation services, the ministry said as it declared the epidemic.

Most often spread through sewage and contaminated water, poliovirus is highly infectious. It can cause deformities and paralysis, and is potentially fatal. It mainly affects children under the age of five.