The first confirmed case of polio in the Gaza Strip was found in a 10-month-old child, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
The ministry said in a statement that the case “in the Gaza City of Deir al-Balah is for a 10-month-old child who did not receive any dose of polio vaccination.”
“Doctors suspected the presence of symptoms of polio, and after conducting the necessary tests in the Jordanian capital, Amman, the infection with the polio virus was confirmed.”
“The continued brutal Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has resulted in a health disaster, as confirmed by international organisations.”
The Ministry of Health renewed its appeal to the international community and international health organisations “to intervene immediately to stop the barbaric Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, and to save what could be saved, and to provide health care services immediately to our people in the Gaza Strip.”
It made an urgent appeal to “all international organisations and bodies to take immediate action to rebuild safe drinking water systems, sanitation, and dispose of medical and solid waste, and fuel to pump clean fresh water, and to allow unconditional entry of medical supplies, medicines, and special materials used for personal hygiene.”
Earlier on Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called in a press conference for an “immediate truce” to facilitate a major vaccination campaign to combat polio, warning of a “humanitarian collapse” in Gaza as the suffering of Palestinians increases while the world watches.
He pointed out that the discovery of the polio virus in sewage samples from the cities of Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah (central Gaza Strip) has increased concerns, as “hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza are at risk.”
Since the vaccination campaign will include 708 teams in health centres, and 316 community outreach teams, the UN Secretary-General called for “facilitating the transfer of vaccines and refrigeration equipment,” facilitating the entry of polio experts into the Strip, providing fuel to health teams, and increasing the cash flow for health workers.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said: “We join the call for a 7-day humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip to allow for two rounds of polio vaccination campaigns.”
Last July, poliovirus was detected in sewage samples in the cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.
The World Health Organisation and UNICEF have since reported three children with suspected acute flaccid paralysis, a common symptom of polio. Stool samples from these children have been sent to the National Polio Laboratory in Jordan.
The Gaza Strip has been polio-free for the past 25 years, according to UN data. Humanitarian workers have warned over the past 10 months that the resurgence of the disease poses another threat to children in Gaza and neighbouring countries.
The disease primarily affects children under the age of five, and one in 200 cases of infection leads to incurable paralysis, with 5 to 10 percent of those infected dying due to the failure of their respiratory muscles to function, according to the World Organization, saying that “if there is one child infected with the poliovirus, children in all countries will at risk of contracting the disease.”
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation forces have continued to carry out a war of genocide on the Gaza Strip, resulting in catastrophic deterioration of the humanitarian and health conditions, due to the ongoing bombing and the tight siege that prevents the arrival of basic supplies of food, water, medicine and electricity.
