Health care workers plan to reach more than 640,000 Palestinian children in a matter of days while Israel has agreed to staggered pauses in fighting.
Health workers in Gaza are starting an ambitious, mass vaccination effort in the Gaza Strip to stop the outbreak of polio and prevent international spread.
The United Nations plans to reach more than 640,000 young Palestinian children in a matter of days. Israel has agreed to staggered pauses in fighting while the vaccination campaign is rolled out, and Hamas has also agreed to cooperate.
Polio is a highly contagious and potentially paralyzing disease, but it is also preventable thanks to vaccines. The virus had been gone from Gaza for the last 25 years, but returned during 10 months of a war in which Israeli bombings have destroyed much of the infrastructure.
For nearly a year, children have lacked access to vaccines as a result of hospitals being closed or destroyed in Gaza. Palestinians have also relied on dirty water ever since wastewater treatment and desalination plants have been bombed.
Over 40,000 people have been killed in this war, according to the Gaza health ministry. The number of deaths from illness is unclear, though there has been a significant spike in infections and diarrhea among children.
