LONDON: The president of the UAE has allocated vaccines and funding for a polio vaccination drive in Gaza following the reemergence of the virus within the territory, the Emirates News Agency reported on Friday.
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan announced that the vaccination campaign would be supported by a $5 million pledge from the UAE.
The two-round vaccination campaign will be delivered in collaboration with the World Health Organization, the UN Children’s Fund, and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees.
It will provide more than 640,000 Palestinian children in Gaza under the age of 10 with two doses of the polio vaccine, in an effort to stop the spread of the virus and prevent a wider regional outbreak.
The campaign will begin on Sunday, WAM reported, in a staggered schedule starting in central Gaza and then moving to the south and north.
Each phase will continue for three days during area-specific humanitarian pauses announced this week, to enable children and families to access health facilities, and community workers to reach children.
Some 1.26 million doses of the polio vaccine have been delivered to Gaza in preparation for distribution, with a further 400,000 doses due to arrive soon. More than 2,100 health workers, including mobile teams, will support the delivery of both rounds of the campaign, WAM reported.
At least 90 percent vaccination coverage is needed during each round to prevent the spread of polio, given the overcrowding, displacement and severely disrupted health, water and sanitation systems within Gaza, it added.
Campaign planning began after the poliovirus was detected in Gaza in July. The World Health Organization confirmed on Aug. 23 that at least one child in Gaza had been paralyzed by the variant type 2 poliovirus, the first such case in the territory in 25 years.
Under the direction of the country’s president, the UAE has also delivered more than 40,000 tonnes of urgent supplies, including food, medical aid and shelter materials, since Israel’s military offensive against Hamas was launched in Gaza last October.
It has also established a field hospital in southern Gaza and a floating hospital at the Egyptian port of Al-Arish, providing medical care to thousands of injured Palestinians.
The UAE has established six water desalination plants in Rafah on the border with Egypt, with a capacity of 1.6 million gallons per day, supplying water to more than 600,000 Palestinians in Gaza.
