The article reports on an ongoing polio vaccination campaign in Gaza, following the recent detection of the polio virus in wastewater samples. The campaign, which is a continuation of last year’s efforts that reached hundreds of thousands of children under the age of 10, aims to mitigate the risk to young lives from the ongoing circulation of the virus. The campaign is spearheaded by the Palestinian Ministry of Health and supported by organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and UN Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA), among others.

UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, highlighted the involvement of 1,700 team members operating across UNRWA health centers and mobile points. WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, underscored the efforts of teams providing on-ground support to ensure a successful campaign.

UNRWA’s health teams, accounting for approximately a third of the response effort, total 555 out of the 1,660 teams participating in the campaign. Vaccinations are scheduled to be administered at ten UNRWA health centers and around sixty UNRWA mobile medical points. The campaign is set to conclude on February 26th.

Source: https://news.un.org/feed/view/en/story/2025/02/1160411