NEW YORK August 23. 2024 (Saba) - The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed his deep concern about the confirmation of a ten-month-old child infected with polio in Gaza Strip.
He stressed that the evacuations must be stopped at all costs, so that the United Nations can implement the vaccination campaign.
"I am deeply concerned about the confirmation that a ten-month-old unvaccinated child in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, has contracted polio for the first time in 25 years," Ghebreyesus said in a tweet on his account on the "X" platform.
He added that the World Health Organization and its partners immediately began working to collect and transport samples from children in Gaza for testing in a laboratory accredited by the World Health Organization in the region.
The Director-General of the World Health Organization indicated that genome sequencing confirmed that the virus is related to "poliovirus type 2", which was discovered in environmental samples collected from sewage water in Gaza last June.
He revealed that thousands of people are still forcibly displaced in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah areas due to repeated evacuation orders issued by Israel, and thus there is a risk of polio infection.
"Ghebreyesus" stressed that this situation increases the physical and psychological difficulties facing children in Gaza Strip.
He added, "No one and no place is safe in Gaza, and people have almost no options after being displaced repeatedly to find shelter, health care and other services in an already crowded and challenging environment."
He pointed out that the evacuation decisions carried out by the Zionist enemy army are close to medical points and hospitals in the affected areas; which causes the disruption risk of these health facilities due to the lack of security and safe access.
He stressed the need to prevent evacuations, "at any cost", stressing that "Gaza people need protection and dignity urgently, not repeated displacement."
J.A
resource : SABA
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