MSF: Israel behind polio outbreak in Gaza


https://www.saba.ye/en/news3366725.htm

Yemen News Agency SABA
MSF: Israel behind polio outbreak in Gaza
[03/ September/2024]
GENEVA September 03. 2024 (Saba) - Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) has accused the Zionist enemy of being behind the resurgence of polio in Gaza, saying the resurgence of the disease in Gaza after 25 years was the result of the Israeli army's continued destruction of infrastructure and the healthcare system.

In a post on the "X" platform, the organization noted that a large-scale vaccination campaign against polio in the Gaza Strip has already begun.

It added that the specialized teams are currently carrying out vaccination operations in five health centers in the cities of Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis.

WHO has warned that polio could spread further if healthy living conditions are not available and vaccination is not possible.

During a press conference at Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza, UNRWA, the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced the launch of a vaccination campaign against polio for children under ten years old.

Thousands of Palestinians went to the announced centers in the central governorate to vaccinate their children under the age of ten against polio.

On 16 August, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for a seven-day humanitarian truce to implement an anti-polio campaign involving 640,000 children, which was directly supported by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) at the time.

The call came after the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced the first confirmed polio virus in the Gaza Strip in a ten-month-old baby.

Over the months of war, health and human rights organizations have warned of the spread of diseases and epidemics in the Gaza Strip due to the lack of medicines and vaccinations, and the difficult health and living conditions experienced by the displaced.