After 11 months of war, Gaza faces a new threat – Polio

GAZA - War and disease have been cruelly intertwined for as long as humans have confronted one another on the battlefield, and in the Gaza Strip, polio is now stalking a population that for nearly 11 months has been on the run from relentless bombardment.

Under ratcheting international pressure to prevent an outbreak of the crippling disease, Israel, which has rebuffed much of the criticism of its handling of the war, is moving with relative haste. Israeli officials agreed this week to temporary and localised pauses in fighting to allow United Nations aid workers to deliver vaccines to 640,000 children.

In a conflict where the warring sides have agreed on precious little, Hamas says it will also abide by the staggered pauses in fighting, which are scheduled to begin on Sept 1.

But health officials warn the plan comes with enormous challenges. Much of Gaza’s infrastructure is in ruins, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are living in temporary shelters and aid workers have been attacked while trying to deliver supplies.

The agreement for the vaccination campaign and the pause in fighting came together six weeks after the World Health Organisation first said that traces of poliovirus had been found in wastewater in Gaza.

Two weeks ago, a nearly one-year-old boy was confirmed to be Gaza’s first polio case in 25 years,

lending urgency to the need for widespread vaccinations for the disease, which can cause paralysis and death.

The resurgence of the disease, which has been eradicated in almost all of the world, reflects the toll of Israeli bombardments that have destroyed Gaza’s waste and water systems.

“I think this is a way forward,” Dr Rik Peeperkorn, the top WHO representative in Gaza, told reporters on Aug 29 as the agency announced the agreement on the pauses.

The vaccinations will begin around 6am on Sept 1 in central Gaza and continue for at least three days, and longer if needed, Dr Peeperkorn said. When that effort is complete, the drive will shift to southern Gaza for three days, and later to northern Gaza for three days. According to the agreement, fighting is supposed to stop in specific areas where the vaccine is being distributed in each of Gaza’s three regions.

A second booster round of immunisations will need to be given four weeks after the first, and Dr Peeperkorn said that was part of the agreement reached on Aug 29. NYTIMES