WHO to resume polio vaccinations in North Gaza amid Israeli airstrikes
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The World Health Organization (WHO) also raises concerns over increasing malnutrition among Gaza's children as the genocide exacerbates food shortages.
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A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, Sunday, September 1, 2024 (AP)
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced on Friday that polio vaccinations for children in northern Gaza would resume Saturday after bombings had abruptly halted the campaign.
This comes a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on "Israel" to facilitate the completion of this essential public health drive.
The vaccination campaign, which began on September 1 after Gaza reported its first polio case in 25 years, aims to immunize 90% of children under 10 to prevent poliovirus transmission.
The campaign's second round began on October 14 in central and southern Gaza, supported by brief humanitarian pauses in Israeli airstrikes.
However, the final phase, scheduled for October 23 in northern Gaza, was postponed due to "intense bombardment," according to the WHO.
"We are assured of the necessary humanitarian pause in Gaza City to conduct the campaign," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated on social media.
Read more: Doctors Without Borders blames 'Israel' for polio outbreak in Gaza
However, Tedros cautioned that the vaccination area has been reduced, leaving some 119,000 children in northern Gaza still waiting for their second dose.
Meanwhile, 452,000 children in central and southern Gaza have received both doses, as WHO guidelines note that two doses are essential for interrupting poliovirus spread, which is transmitted through contaminated water and can cause paralysis, deformities, or even death.
Malnutrition rampant
The WHO also raised concerns over increasing malnutrition among Gaza's children as the genocide exacerbates food shortages.
WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris reported Friday that the region's last malnutrition center, based at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, had closed following recent Israeli airstrikes, further straining Gaza's fragile health system.
Tedros had condemned the Israeli attack on the hospital which caused injuries and damaged recently-delivered lifesaving supplies.
"Before that occurred, we were seeing an increasing number, month on month, of children with severe acute malnutrition who were requiring treatment," Harris told a media briefing on Friday.
"We've not really seen any food aid enter north Gaza since October 2. People are running out of ways to cope. The food systems have collapsed and the opportunity to care for those who are at the most critical stage is not there any more," she said.
Harris noted that "over 86% of the population across Gaza are experiencing severe food insecurity. It's always the children who suffer the most."
Read more: UNICEF reports 50,000+ children in Gaza facing 'acute malnutrition'
A report released in August by UNRWA revealed that the number of cases of malnutrition among children in northern Gaza rose by almost 300% in July as compared to May.
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.
