NGOs warn of 'imminent polio epidemic' in Gaza, urge immediate vaccination campaign

Leading international humanitarian organisations warned on Wednesday that an "entire generation" of Gaza’s children is at risk of polio unless immediate action is taken to pause fighting for a vaccination campaign.

Top humanitarian and medical NGOs including Humanity & Inclusion, ActionAid, Norwegian Refugee Council, Oxfam and Save the Children signed an open briefing calling attention to the dangers facing Gaza’s children from an "imminent polio epidemic" in Gaza.

They said that a polio epidemic was a risk that "children in Gaza cannot afford".

"At least 50,000 children have been born in Gaza since the escalation of the conflict and are likely to have received no vaccinations whatsoever," the statement said.

The briefing released on Wednesday was also backed by over 20 doctors and medical professionals, including several who have volunteered in Gaza over the course of the war.

They raised the alarm about the risk of the disease spreading beyond Gaza, considering how quickly the virus can spread among those not vaccinated.

Polio was detected in Gaza’s sewage in June with its first confirmed case in a ten-month-old baby in late July.

Gaza’s overwhelmed health authorities have urgently called on the international community for support in dealing with the outbreak and urged the Israeli military to allow a humanitarian pause to conduct a vaccine campaign.

The highly infection disease which causes paralysis had not been detected in the enclave for over 25 years, the World Health Organization said.

The organisations blamed the disease's re-emergence on "Israel’s systematic destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure, compounded by its restrictions on repairs and supply access, and the presence of unexploded ordnance in and around key infrastructure".

WHO and UNICEF said last week that Palestinian children need at least two rounds of orally delivered polio vaccine to effectively shut down its spread in Gaza.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus approved the release of 1.23 million doses of the vaccine for use in Gaza for more than 640,500 children under ten years old.

But for a mass vaccination campaign to work, there must be a cessation in hostilities and unimpeded access for health workers, the aid agencies said.

The international organisations laid out the requirements needed for an effective response which included the need to facilitate safe access to vaccines, specialist cold chain equipment and staff through all crossing points into and within Gaza.

It said that “full, unhindered humanitarian access” within Gaza is essential and said “all blockages” must end immediately.

Israel has imposed restrictions on access into Gaza after it seized the southern Rafah border crossing which served as the only civilian crossing point to and from Gaza. It was also a vital channel for aid deliveries for Gaza arriving in Egypt.

The organisations said that "thousands of children" do not have time to wait for negotiations and reiterated its call for an "immediate and sustainable ceasefire".

"At a minimum, an immediate end to hostilities across the whole of Gaza must be instituted to facilitate the vaccination campaign in August and September," they said.

Poliovirus type 2 was identified in mid-July in sewage samples collected the month before from the cities of Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah in Gaza.

Three cases of paralysis were found by doctors later in July and samples were sent to Jordan for testing, with a case confirmed in a ten-month-old baby.

Gaza had not detected a case of the disease for 25 years, but health authorities warned that the humanitarian catastrophe from months of conflict had created a breeding ground for diseases.

Polio is not curable but is preventable through vaccination, according to the WHO. It is transmitted through water, food or faeces invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis in hours. It usually leads to paralysis in the legs and can cause death.

The war has decimated the enclave’s health system with only 16 hospitals "partially functional" and receiving dozens of dead and wounded daily. Twenty hospitals have been rendered out of use from repeated Israeli attacks.

Aid workers have reported highly dangerous conditions and a shortage of medicine to meet the needs of the beleaguered population.