“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.
“Let’s be clear: The ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. But in any case, a Polio Pause is a must.”
Mr. 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.
Mr. Guterres outlined the grave challenges these efforts face.
He said Gaza’s health, water and sanitation systems “have been decimated”, most hospitals and primary care facilities are not functional, and people are constantly forced to run to seek safety.
Furthermore, routine immunizations have been severely disrupted due to the conflict, thus increasing the spread of measles, hepatitis A and other preventable diseases.
“We know how an effective polio vaccination campaign must be administered,” he said.
“Given the wholesale devastation in Gaza, at least 95 per cent vaccination coverage will be needed during each round of the two-round campaign to prevent polio’s spread and reduce its emergence.”
Source: UN News