Doctors in war-torn Gaza have detected a case of polio for the first time in 25 years, health officials said, as international aid bodies call for a pause in the conflict for make way for a vaccination drive. <\/p>\n
Traces of poliovirus were found in a 10-month-old child in the central Gazan city of Deir al-Balah, the health ministry said in a statement late Friday, adding that the baby had not received any polio jabs. <\/p>\n
Previously, UNICEF said poliovirus was detected in environmental samples from Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in July, with stool samples of three children being sent to a lab in Jordan for testing. <\/p>\n
Polio is a highly contagious disease that mainly affects children under the age of 5. It targets the nervous system and can cause paralysis and death in extreme cases. <\/p>\n
The resurgence of the virus \u2013 eliminated in most of the developed world \u2013 highlights the struggles facing Gaza\u2019s two million residents, who have lived under Israeli bombardment since October last year. Many people in the enclave are deprived of food, medical supplies and clean water, with up to 90% of the population internally displaced. <\/p>\n
More than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war on Hamas following the group\u2019s October 7 attack, according to officials. The Hamas attack killed more than 1,200 Israelis, with 250 taken hostage, according to the Israeli government. <\/p>\n
The health ministry said it will work with UNICEF to vaccinate children under 10 years old in Gaza, adding that more than a million doses are available. <\/p>\n
Two rounds of vaccination are expected to be launched this month and next across Gaza, UNICEF said in a news release Friday, adding that it will target more than 640,000 children. <\/p>\n
But a pause in hostilities is needed to make way for an effective polio vaccination campaign, it said, alongside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees and the World Health Organization, all calling for a halt to the fighting. <\/p>\n
United Nations Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres has called the proposal \u201ca must,\u201d noting the \u201cultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.\u201d <\/p>\n
International mediators are making an urgent push for Israel and Hamas to reach a broader ceasefire and hostage deal next week, after high-stakes negotiations in Qatar saw them put a fresh proposal to the warring parties. <\/p>\n
Gaza has been polio-free for the last 25 years, UNICEF said. <\/p>\n
\u201cIts reemergence, which the humanitarian community has warned about for the last ten months, represents yet another threat to the children in the Gaza Strip and neighboring countries,\u201d the UN body added, stressing the importance of a ceasefire. <\/p>\n
Hamas welcomed the call from the UN agencies on Friday for a seven-day \u201cpolio pause.\u201d <\/p>\n
But the health ministry in Gaza warned in a statement on Friday that a vaccination campaign \u201cwill not be enough without a radical solution to the problems of sanitation and accumulation of waste among the tents for the displaced.\u201d <\/p>\n
Last week, Palestinian Minister of Health Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan warned that Israel\u2019s bombardment had destroyed 80% of the healthcare infrastructure in Gaza. <\/p>\n
Most hospitals are out of service and those that have remained operational are working only partially \u201cdue to direct damage and the loss of qualified medical staff\u201d due to displacement, according to the minister. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are facing a humanitarian catastrophe by all indications and evidence,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Eyad Kourdi, Hira Humayun, Sarah Dean and Ibrahim Dahman contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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