Polio, malnutrition tighten death grip on Gaza children
3 Min Read
96% of Gaza's population suffers from crisis levels of hunger as the WHO director confirms polio is plaguing Gaza.
-
Displaced child Toleen Marshoud, who suffers from skin disease, sits at a makeshift tent camp in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Monday, July 29, 2024. (AP)
The number of cases of malnutrition among children in northern Gaza rose by almost 300% in July as compared to May, a report released on Friday by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) revealed.
It stated that 96% of Gaza's population suffers from crisis levels of hunger, citing data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) and the Global Nutrition Cluster.
Detected malnutrition cases among children in northern Gaza increased by more than 300% in July compared with May, says @GNCGENEVA.
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) August 8, 2024
96% of Gaza’s population faces crisis levels of hunger, according to @theIPCinfo. Gaza needs more aid and a #CeasefireNow pic.twitter.com/Pc382sW7Wr
On Thursday, the World Health Organization Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus tweeted about the levels of polio plaguing Gaza and said that the WHO, UNRWA, and UNICEF are preparing "two rounds of polio vaccination campaigns targeting 600,000 children under the age of 8."
"WHO is sending more than 1 million polio vaccines to Gaza, which will be administered in the coming weeks," he affirmed.
The detection of #polio in wastewater in #Gaza is a tell-tale sign that the virus has been circulating in the community, putting unvaccinated children at risk.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) August 7, 2024
In coordination with the Ministry of Health, @WHO, @UNICEF, @UNRWA and partners are preparing two rounds of polio…
The director, however, asserted the need for "absolute freedom of movement for health workers and medical equipment to carry out these complex operations safely and effectively."
"A ceasefire, or at least 'days of tranquility' during preparation and delivery of the vaccination campaigns, are required to protect children in Gaza from polio," he added.
The fear stems from the Israeli occupation killing healthcare professionals and aid workers in indiscriminate bombing, as repeatedly revealed by Gaza authorities.
The latest incident saw the killing of the World Central Kitchen's (WCK) Nadi Sallout, one of its Palestinian members, who was killed near Deir al-Balah in Gaza.
In a statement, the WCK said that Sallout was a "humanitarian at his very core" and an "integral member of [the] warehouse team" from the early days of the organization's response in Rafah.
Another incident affecting the same organization saw the killing of seven central kitchen workers in Gaza last April, one Palestinian and six foreigners, leading the organization to pause its operations despite the catastrophic humanitarian situation caused by the Israeli genocidal war on the Strip and its blocking of basic survival aid, only to resume them by the beginning of May.
Two weeks ago, Ghebreyesus said an immediate ceasefire in Gaza is necessary to avoid deaths from unpreventable diseases, given the collapsed state of the Gazan healthcare system.
A week prior, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza issued an urgent warning after tests conducted on sewage samples, in coordination with UNICEF, confirmed the presence of the poliovirus.
Read more: Unofficial death toll may be over 90,000: US medics in Gaza
This alarming discovery highlights a severe health crisis as the virus is found in sewage water that flows through the densely populated areas and displacement camps, where infrastructure has been severely damaged due to the relentless Israeli bombardment since October 7.
Amid daily Israeli massacres, #Gaza has now declared the Strip a #polio epidemic zone, linking the outbreak to the ongoing siege and genocide.#GazaGenocide#Palestine pic.twitter.com/rZlZHC4MOJ
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) August 3, 2024
So far, almost 40,000 Palestinians have been killed while another 90,000 injured. In the absence of proper medical treatment, decaying bodies scattered across the Strip, food insecurity causing exponential levels and cases of malnutrition, and the spread of highly transmittable diseases, such as respiratory infections, Hepatitis A, and others, such as diarrhoeal diseases, Palestinians, particularly vulnerable children, risk suffering a greater health toll.
