UN chief calls for 'Polio Pause' in Gaza

New York: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Friday for warring parties in Gaza to lay down their arms so that humanitarians can safely v...

New York: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Friday for warring parties in Gaza to lay down their arms so that humanitarians can safely vaccinate more than half a million children against polio. "I am appealing to all parties to provide concrete assurances right away guaranteeing humanitarian pauses for the campaign," he said, speaking to reporters at UN Headquarters in New York. "Lets be clear: The ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. But in any case, a Polio Pause is a must."

Guterres described Gaza as being in "a humanitarian freefall" because "just when it seems the situation could not get worse for Palestinians in Gaza, the suffering grows and the world watches." Poliovirus was recently detected in sewage samples in two locations, Khan Younis and Deir Al-Balah, meaning that the disease which can cause paralysis - is circulating in the enclave and putting thousands of children at risk. "Polio does not care about dividing lines and polio does not wait," he said Starting at the end of the month, the UN is set to launch a two-phase campaign to vaccinate more than 640,000 children in Gaza under the age of 10. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already approved the release of 1.6 million doses of the polio vaccine and the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF) is coordinating delivery efforts and the cold chain equipment needed for storage. Meanwhile, medical teams from the UN Palestine refugee agency, UNRWA the largest primary healthcare provider in Gaza are ready to administer the vaccines and assist with logistics. "We know how an effective polio vaccination campaign must be administered," Guterres said. The campaign will involve 708 teams at hospitals and primary healthcare centres, he said, again noting that many are barely functioning, and 316 community outreach teams throughout Gaza.