WHO, the World Health Organization, is sending over one million polio vaccine doses to Gaza to be distributed over the coming weeks, reports Reuters. High concentrations of the highly contagious virus have been found in the sewage system in Gaza.
”No cases of polio have yet been registered, but without immediate action, it is only a matter of time before the disease reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected”, says Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in an opinion piece in the British newspaper The Guardian.
Children under five years of age are at the greatest risk of contracting the viral disease, and especially infants under two years.
In addition to polio, the UN reported last week a significant increase in the number of cases of hepatitis A, measles, and gastroenteritis as the sanitary conditions deteriorate in Gaza, where sewage water is flowing onto the streets.
