For 25 years, there has not been a single confirmed case of polio in Gaza. But after 10 months of Israel’s war on the territory — which has destroyed health care systems and created dangerous and unhealthy conditions for Palestinians — a child He became partially paralyzed last month after contracting the disease.
As the virus spreads in the besieged enclave, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for An immediate humanitarian ceasefire to allow a mass vaccination campaign in Gaza. since then, Israel agreed In a series of three-day humanitarian breaks in the northern, central and southern parts of the Strip. As of Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said vaccination efforts had so far reached their goals, 161,000 children under 10 years of age.
But there is still a long way to go before health officials can declare that polio is no longer a public health threat in Gaza. Get there, WHO 90 percent should be reached Children under 10 or approximately 640,000. Each child should receive two doses of the vaccine and a second dose of the vaccine Four weeks set to begin After administering the first dose.
This makes implementation of vaccination campaigns difficult, especially if fighting continues in the midst of a humanitarian hiatus because more people will be displaced and more infrastructure will be destroyed. If Israel issues evacuation orders or continues its attacks on Gaza’s infrastructure, for example, “it will be very difficult for humanitarian actors to turn around and be able to provide vaccinations for not only polio but other diseases,” said senior Julia Bleckner. Health researcher at Human Rights Watch.
The nearly eradicated disease poses a grave risk to Palestinians in Gaza. And when health officials say it is Impossible to say If polio cases persist, experts warn that a larger outbreak is possible and could have consequences for the region and Potentially spread out.
How did polio return to Gaza?
Polio, which Mostly affects children Under the age of 5, a highly contagious disease that attacks the nervous system and can quickly cause complete and permanent paralysis. Although there is no cure, it can be prevented with vaccines, which is why most countries have been able to successfully eradicate the disease. Actually, since Global Polio Eradication Initiative Introduced in 1988, confirmed polio cases have declined 99 percent of the world.
For decades, Gaza was an area where polio was thought to be eradicated. But in July health officials Dr Polio virus has been identified in wastewater samples from Khan Yunis and Deir al-Balah in southern and central Gaza. “Without checking, [the poliovirus] This will have disastrous consequences not only for Palestinian children in Gaza, but also for neighboring countries and regions,” Guterres said last month.
The outbreak of polio in Gaza is likely the result of what is known as a vaccine-derived strain of the virus. One version of the polio vaccine works by exposing people to a live but weakened form of the poliovirus. As a result, people who receive the vaccine may shed parts of the weakened virus, usually into wastewater. If that virus is allowed to circulate in a community long enough, it can eventually revert to a strain that can make people sick.
Overcrowded areas with poor sanitation particularly weak to spread the virus through contaminated food or water – and that’s exactly the situation Palestinians in Gaza have faced since the war began last October, especially with Israel. attacked Water and sanitation infrastructure.
Add to that the fact that this war has significantly reduced the number of people vaccinated in Gaza. Before October 2023, 99 percent of people in the Strip were regularly vaccinated, but that number fell below 90 percent in the first three months of this year. According to WHO.
Bleckner said the first polio case in 25 years was “not a coincidence.”
Will enough Palestinians be vaccinated in time?
The most pressing issue for health officials is to ensure that 90 percent of Palestinian children under the age of 10 are vaccinated as soon as possible. So far, the results of the campaign are promising: according to the WHO, 160,000 children vaccination This exceeded the agency’s projection of reaching 150,000 children in the first two days of the drive.
But how sustainable that success will be is unclear now that the war is still going on. As humanitarian pauses are lifted, obstacles may emerge that prevent health officials from meeting their goals. Last week, for example, the United Nations said that Israel has an almost constant evacuation order Their help hinders the efforts of workers To reach out to the Palestinians in need.
In Gaza, it’s also possible that health officials will be hesitant about some vaccines —The reason is one Polio has spread to some parts of the world. And for some Palestinians, the vaccination campaign from international organizations rather than Israel is not enough to dispel their doubts. As a Palestinian mother told Al Jazeera“People here have lost faith in anything global or western.”
There is also the question of security. “For parents who are trying to bring their children in for vaccinations, how can they safely get to health care centers when most health care centers are inaccessible and barely functioning at this time?” Blakener said. And after the Israeli attack refugee camp, school, hospitaland even Food delivery siteIt is understandable that some parents may have some concerns that any facility is not safe.
Worldwide, the spread of polio is very limited, but it is still considered endemic in Afghanistan and Pakistan. According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, every part of the world will be at risk until the virus is eradicated from those countries. This is especially true for low-income countries with inadequate public health infrastructure. In recent years, Mozambique and Malawi Reported wild poliovirus cases – that is, polioviruses that circulate naturally as opposed to vaccine-derived strains.
For the health of Palestinians in Gaza and others in the wider region, it is critical that the current vaccination campaign be successful. However, it has taken so long to implement, experts say has been warned Israel and the world have been concerned about a possible polio outbreak for months Vaccinating its troops From July – it’s going to require a tremendous effort.
“No child in 2024 should have polio. It’s a completely preventable disease, so even a confirmed case — and the WHO has identified several children now showing symptoms of paralysis — is already too late,” Bleckner said. “The conditions that people are living in in Gaza are so honestly horrible and By enabling the spread of disease, it is truly a race against time to stop the catastrophic spread of this disease and others.”
