Zürcher Nachrichten - Health official says polio vaccine campaign begins in war-torn Gaza

EUR -
AED 3.832684
AFN 72.959602
ALL 98.462959
AMD 410.45402
ANG 1.873047
AOA 957.921829
ARS 1062.031565
AUD 1.668562
AWG 1.878277
AZN 1.784801
BAM 1.956057
BBD 2.098476
BDT 124.196346
BGN 1.95543
BHD 0.392152
BIF 3072.704402
BMD 1.043487
BND 1.411486
BOB 7.181945
BRL 6.350643
BSD 1.039337
BTN 88.357629
BWP 14.364891
BYN 3.401248
BYR 20452.35176
BZD 2.089175
CAD 1.498735
CDF 2994.808319
CHF 0.931781
CLF 0.03736
CLP 1030.865674
CNY 7.613704
CNH 7.60587
COP 4549.298739
CRC 524.369013
CUC 1.043487
CUP 27.652414
CVE 110.279514
CZK 25.108428
DJF 185.074358
DKK 7.458116
DOP 63.288329
DZD 140.667513
EGP 53.089373
ERN 15.65231
ETB 129.556951
FJD 2.417812
FKP 0.826423
GBP 0.829839
GEL 2.932642
GGP 0.826423
GHS 15.278011
GIP 0.826423
GMD 75.13081
GNF 8979.181761
GTQ 8.008054
GYD 217.438617
HKD 8.11073
HNL 26.382472
HRK 7.484837
HTG 135.967895
HUF 414.03543
IDR 16874.546735
ILS 3.801242
IMP 0.826423
INR 88.646863
IQD 1361.479186
IRR 43917.772492
ISK 145.170484
JEP 0.826423
JMD 162.611401
JOD 0.739936
JPY 163.242118
KES 134.177659
KGS 90.783029
KHR 4176.549681
KMF 486.395546
KPW 939.138018
KRW 1509.320727
KWD 0.321342
KYD 0.866114
KZT 545.821836
LAK 22747.993892
LBP 93069.24896
LKR 305.14016
LRD 188.634826
LSL 19.134218
LTL 3.081147
LVL 0.631195
LYD 5.106672
MAD 10.460077
MDL 19.14352
MGA 4903.645375
MKD 61.5431
MMK 3389.206159
MNT 3545.769827
MOP 8.320295
MRU 41.33344
MUR 49.25222
MVR 16.052761
MWK 1802.137182
MXN 20.931771
MYR 4.704048
MZN 66.682732
NAD 19.134218
NGN 1616.92545
NIO 38.245033
NOK 11.810924
NPR 141.372606
NZD 1.846749
OMR 0.401533
PAB 1.039337
PEN 3.870109
PGK 4.214555
PHP 61.430102
PKR 289.288974
PLN 4.258903
PYG 8104.066586
QAR 3.788799
RON 4.979106
RSD 117.045935
RUB 107.244587
RWF 1448.790677
SAR 3.91966
SBD 8.748133
SCR 14.551486
SDG 627.662417
SEK 11.505215
SGD 1.414024
SHP 0.826423
SLE 23.787187
SLL 21881.410825
SOS 593.978174
SRD 36.65877
STD 21598.081035
SVC 9.094197
SYP 2621.793487
SZL 19.129518
THB 35.780887
TJS 11.369896
TMT 3.662641
TND 3.311736
TOP 2.44395
TRY 36.710281
TTD 7.053928
TWD 34.050018
TZS 2468.324859
UAH 43.588037
UGX 3812.501768
USD 1.043487
UYU 46.356101
UZS 13399.76356
VES 53.713772
VND 26561.970104
VUV 123.884906
WST 2.882934
XAF 656.043343
XAG 0.035154
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.820076
XDR 0.792804
XOF 656.043343
XPF 119.331742
YER 261.263155
ZAR 19.096059
ZMK 9392.640903
ZMW 28.762786
ZWL 336.002496
  • CMSD

    0.0000

    23.56

    0%

  • RELX

    -0.3100

    45.47

    -0.68%

  • SCS

    -0.5800

    11.74

    -4.94%

  • RBGPF

    59.9600

    59.96

    +100%

  • GSK

    0.1700

    33.6

    +0.51%

  • AZN

    0.9100

    65.35

    +1.39%

  • NGG

    0.8200

    58.5

    +1.4%

  • RIO

    -0.0900

    58.64

    -0.15%

  • BCC

    -0.2600

    122.75

    -0.21%

  • CMSC

    0.0200

    23.86

    +0.08%

  • BCE

    0.0500

    23.16

    +0.22%

  • BTI

    0.1131

    36.24

    +0.31%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    8.39

    +0.12%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.27

    -0.14%

  • BP

    0.1900

    28.6

    +0.66%

  • JRI

    0.1100

    12.06

    +0.91%

Health official says polio vaccine campaign begins in war-torn Gaza
Health official says polio vaccine campaign begins in war-torn Gaza / Photo: Jihad Al-Sharafi - AFP

Health official says polio vaccine campaign begins in war-torn Gaza

A health official said a polio vaccination campaign had begun in Gaza on Saturday after the war-torn territory recorded its first case of the disease in a quarter of a century.

Text size:

Local health officials along with the UN and NGOs "are starting today the polio vaccination campaign in the central region", Moussa Abed, director of primary health care at the Gaza health ministry, told AFP.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday that Israel had agreed to a series of three-day "humanitarian pauses" in Gaza to facilitate vaccinations, though officials had earlier said the campaign was expected to start on Sunday.

After beginning in central Gaza, vaccines are set to be administered in southern Gaza and then in northern Gaza.

The campaign, which involves two doses, aims to cover more than 640,000 children under 10.

Michael Ryan, WHO deputy director-general, told the UN Security Council this week that 1.26 million doses of the oral vaccine had been delivered in Gaza, with another 400,000 still to arrive

The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said earlier this month that tests in Jordan had confirmed polio in an unvaccinated 10-month-old baby from central Gaza.

Poliovirus is highly infectious, and most often spread through sewage and contaminated water -- an increasingly common problem in Gaza as the Israel-Hamas war drags on.

The disease mainly affects children under the age of five. It can cause deformities and paralysis, and is potentially fatal.

Bakr Deeb told AFP on Saturday that he brought his three children -- all under 10 -- to a vaccination point despite some initial doubts about its safety.

"I was hesitant at first and very afraid of the safety of this vaccination," he said.

"After the assurances of its safety, and with all the families going to the vaccination points, I decided to go with my children as well, to protect them."

Abed, the health official, stressed on Saturday that the vaccine was "100 percent safe".

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7 which resulted in the deaths of 1,199 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 40,691 people in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.

Incessant Israeli bombardment has also caused a major humanitarian crisis and devastated the health system.

E.Schneyder--NZN