Aid Agencies and Medical Professionals Warn of Mass Polio Outbreak Among Gaza's Children Without Urgent Action

August 20, 2024

Aid agencies and medical professionals have joined forced to call urgently for a ceasefire to allow life-saving polio vaccinations to be administered to about 640,000 children aged under 10 following confirmation of the first case of polio in Gaza in 25 years, with reports of other suspected cases emerging. 

At least 50,000 children born during the past 10 months of hostilities are unlikely to have received any immunizations due to the collapsed health system, while older children among the one million children in Gaza will have had their regular vaccine schedules disrupted or halted by violence and displacement. 

Polio had been eliminated in Gaza more than two decades ago with the last positive environmental sample detected in 2013, but last month the WHO reported that the virus had been found in sewage samples from sites in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah. This month one case was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health in an unvaccinated 10-month-old child, in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. 

The reemergence of the poliovirus in Gaza is a direct result of the destruction of water and sanitation infrastructure, and the Government of Israel's restrictions on repairs and supplies. Coupled with overcrowding, displacement, and a crippled healthcare system, these actions have created an environment ripe for the spread of the virus in Gaza and across the world. 

A group of about 20 aid agencies and about 20 medical professionals who have worked in Gaza said polio vaccines are in the region and ready to be distributed in August and September, but this requires full access for humanitarian supplies into Gaza from all border crossings, and safe, unhindered movement within the Strip. This can only be achieved with an immediate end to hostilities.  

Polio, a virus that can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours, is particularly dangerous in Gaza, where high malnutrition rates and toxic stress levels make children more vulnerable to infection. With Ministry of Health confirmations of polio in a 10-month-old in Deir Al-Balah, and WHO reports confirming the presence of poliovirus in wastewater, the situation is beyond alarming.

Humanitarian operations across Gaza are severely hindered by ongoing bombardment and obstruction of critical aid supplies and fuel at Israeli-controlled crossing points, and dangerous transit within the Gaza Strip. Specialist refrigerated trucks needed to safely transport vaccines have been repeatedly rejected from entry, leaving thousands of children at risk. 

Humanitarian organizations urgently call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire to allow polio vaccinations to take place in Gaza. For a polio vaccination campaign to be effective, it must be able to reach at least 95% of targeted children, and this cannot happen in an active war zone. Any ceasefire or pause requested by the UN must enable full humanitarian access, not just for vaccines but for the full range of assistance needed to sustain civilians’ basic needs. All parties to conflict have an obligation to facilitate humanitarian access at all times, regardless of whether conflict is active or not.

Arnaud Quemin, Mercy Corps Regional Director for the Middle East, North Africa and Europe says:

“Time is of the essence. This is about protecting lives and ensuring that every child has a chance to be safe from a preventable disease. Without an urgent ceasefire and unrestricted access to vaccines and humanitarian aid, Gaza will face a public health crisis that cannot be undone and will impact generations to come.”

 Jeremy Stoner, Save the Children’s Regional Director for the Middle East says: 

"Now polio is confirmed, the response needs to be measured in hours, not weeks. Without immediate action, an entire generation is at risk of infection, and hundreds of children face paralysis by a highly communicable disease that can be prevented with a simple vaccine. These children do not have the luxury of time."

Nahed Abu Iyada, CARE West Bank and Gaza’s Health Program Field Officer says:

"The health system in Gaza was destroyed long ago. Without an immediate ceasefire and access to vaccines and humanitarian aid across the Strip, the people of Gaza are facing a public health disaster that will spread and endanger children across the region and beyond."

 

Notes to Editors: 

  • Polio can cause total paralysis within hours and is especially dangerous for children under five.
  • The World Health Organization has confirmed the presence of poliovirus in Gaza.

 

Signed:

Islamic Relief Worldwide 

MedGlobal

ActionAid

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP)

War Child

Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC)

WeWorld

CARE

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)

Humanity & Inclusion/ Handicap International (HI)

DanChurchAid

ChildFund Alliance

Plan International

Accion Contra el Hambre (ACF)

Médicos del Mundo (Médecins du Monde Spain)

Oxfam

International Rescue Committee

Mercy Corps

Children Not Numbers NGO

Save the Children

 

Doctors and medical professionals:

Feroze Sidhwa, MD, MPH, FACS, FICS

Trauma, critical care, acute care, and General Surgeon

Served at European Hospital, Khan Younis, March 25 - April 8, 2024

French Camp, CA

 

Thaer Ahmad, MD 

Emergency Medicine Physician 

Served at Nasser Hospital, January 2024

 

John Kahler, MD, FAAP

MedGlobal Cofounder

Served in Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, Gaza, January,  March 2024

 

Abdullah Ghali, MD

Orthopedic Surgery Resident

European Hospital in Khan Younis, April 3 - 8, 2024

Houston, TX

 

Abeerah Muhammad MSN, RN, CEN

Emergency and Critical Care Nurse

European Hospital, May 2024

 

Yipeng Ge, MD, MPH, CCFP 

Primary Care Physician and Public Health Practitioner

Tal Al Sultan Primary Health Care Center in Rafah, February 12-19, 2024 

Ottawa, Canada

 

Benjamin Thomson, MD, MSc, MPH(c), FRCPC

Internal Medicine, Nephrology, Public Health

Multiple sites in Rafah, Deir-el-balah

March 2024

Toronto, Canada 

 

Noor Amin, MD, CCFP(SEM), FCFP

Primary Care, Emergency and Sports Medicine physician

Al Aqsa Hospital and European Gaza Hospital April 2024

Mississauga, Canada

 

Ahmad Yousaf, MD 

Internal Medicine/Pediatrician

Al-Aqsa Shushes Hospital, June 24- July 16, 2024 

 

Nabeel Rana, MD

Vascular Surgeon

Served at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Deir al-Balah, June 20 - July 9, 2024

 

Hina Cheema, MD

Obstetrician and Gynecologist

Served in Al Emirati hospital, Rafah March 2024

Served in Nassar hospital, Khan Younis, June-July, 2024

 

Ahmed Ebeid

Anesthesia

Served in European General Hospital, January -  February 2024

Served in Kamal Eledwan Hospital, March- April 2024

 

Bilal Piracha, MD

Clinical Assistant Professor Emergency Medicine

Served at Aqsa Hospital, DeirAl-Balah, March 7 -19 & July 19- 25, 2024

Served at Al Ahli Hospital (Gaza City), July 26 - August 1, 2024

 

Professor Nick Maynard MS, FRCS, FRCSEd

Consultant Surgeon (General and Thoracic Surgery)

Oxford University Hospitals, Oxford, UK
Served as member of Medical Aid for Palestinians Emergency Medical teams in Gaza:

December 26, 2023 – January 8, 2024, Al Aqsa Hospital, Deir Al Balah, Gaza

April 22– May 6,  2024, Al Aqsa Hospital, Deir Albalah, Gaza

 

Javid Abdelmoneim FRCP, DTMH 

Emergency Medicine Physician 

Nasser Medical Complex, Khan Younis June -July 2024

Khaled Dawas MD, FRCS (General Surgeon)

Consultant Surgeon

University College London Hospitals

Member of Medial Aid for Palestinians Emergency Medical Teams in Gaza 2023/4

Dr. Trish Scanlan 

Pediatrician  & Co-Medical Director 

Children Not Numbers 

Dr James Smith MBBS, MA, MSc, MSc

Emergency Physician, UK

Lecturer in Humanitarian Policy and Practice, UCL, UK

Served in Al Aqsa Hospital, December 16, 2023 - January 8, 2024

Served in Al-Mawasi, Rafah, Al-Aqsa Hospital, & supported patient evacuations ins Gaza City, North Gaza)

 

Alia Kattan MD

Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine

Served in European General Hospital, Gaza, April 29 - May 17, 2024

Tanya Haj-Hassan, BMBCh, MSc 

Served in Gaza, March 11-25, 2024 

 

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