UN will launch another polio vaccination drive in Gaza Strip

AP , Wednesday 19 Feb 2025

The United Nations health chief says another polio vaccination campaign will be launched in the Gaza Strip on Saturday.

GAZA
Members of Palestinian family hang laundry on the ruins of their house, amid widespread destruction caused by the Israeli military's ground and air offensive in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip. AP

 

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said Wednesday on X that the campaign aims to vaccinate more than 591,000 children under 10 years old.

It comes after the recent detection of poliovirus in wastewater samples, signalling circulation.

Last year, Gaza reported its first polio case in 25 years — a 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed in a leg.

At the time, the WHO said the presence of a paralysis case indicated there could be hundreds more who have been infected but aren’t showing symptoms.

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