GENEVA, October 10. /TASS/. The second round of a polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip, set to begin on October 14, requires humanitarian pauses, World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
"We urge for the commitment on humanitarian pauses to be upheld, especially given the evacuation orders in the north of Gaza which are threatening access to hospitals and protection of health facilities and health and community workers," he pointed out in a statement on the X social media website. "We repeat our call for a ceasefire. The children in Gaza need peace, now!" he added.
Ghebreyesus noted that "the second round of polio vaccination in Gaza, which aims to vaccinate over half a million children, is scheduled to start on 14 October." "To stop transmission, at least 90% of all children need two doses," he stressed.
According to the WHO director general, the vaccination campaign will be implemented by the Ministry of Health, the WHO, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).
On August 30, the Gaza Health Ministry confirmed the timeframe for a polio vaccination campaign initiated by the WHO and UNICEF. It kicked off in Deir al-Balah in the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on September 1 and continued in other areas in central Gaza until September 4. Medical teams worked in Khan Yunis and Rafah in the south of the enclave on September 5-8 and in Gaza and the north of the Strip on September 9-12.
The Palestinian Health Ministry announced on August 16 that the first confirmed polio case had been reported in Deir al-Balah. The patient, a ten-month-old child, had never been vaccinated.