Israel preventing entry of over one million polio vaccines into Gaza

 The Palestinian Health Ministry accused Israel on 7 August of preventing the entry of over a million desperately needed polio vaccines into the Gaza Strip. 

“The Gaza Strip needs 1.3 million doses of polio vaccine … Israel is still refusing to allow vaccines into the Strip,” said Musa Abed, Director of Health Care at the ministry. 

“The risk of the spread of the polio virus in the Gaza Strip still exists in light of the ongoing Israeli aggression and the deprivation of the population of public hygiene tools. Any delay in the supply of vaccines would exacerbate the already poor health conditions and have serious repercussions on the health of children and vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the sick,” Abed added. 

Infectious diseases have been spreading rapidly across the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s genocidal war and the internal displacement of nearly two million Palestinians. 

“There is an imminent epidemiological catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as a result of the outbreak of waterborne or respiratory diseases. There are more than 100,000 cases of epidemic hepatitis … in the year before the [Israeli] aggression there were only 85 cases in the entire Gaza Strip,” Palestinian Health Minister Majed Abu Ramadan warned on 4 August. 

“The most dangerous thing we are suffering from is the possibility of an epidemic outbreak of Polio in the Gaza Strip,” the health minister added. 

Thursday’s health ministry warning came after the World Health Organization (WHO) said it would send one million polio vaccines to the devastated enclave. 

On 18 July, the Health Ministry released a statement warning of poliovirus in Gaza, which was found in sewage sampling tests undertaken in coordination with UNICEF. The ministry said that the presence and spread of poliovirus is caused by the overcrowding of displaced persons, the destruction of health and sanitation infrastructure, and the shortage of medical and cleaning supplies. It warned that this poses a threat to thousands of Gazans and called for an immediate end to the war, the provision of safe water, and the repair of sewage lines that were destroyed by Israeli forces. 

Days later, the Israeli army announced a campaign to provide its troops in Gaza with polio vaccines while leaving Palestinians unprotected from the disease. 

https://thecradle.co/articles/israel-preventing-entry-of-over-one-million-polio-vaccines-into-gaza