The World Health Organization (WHO) said it had successfully carried out a polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip to prevent an outbreak and announced the evacuation of nearly 100 sick and wounded people on Wednesday, the largest operation since the start of the war.
But this “parenthesis” should not make us forget that the health system is “decimated” after more than 11 months of fighting between Israel and Hamas in this Palestinian territory, the WHO stressed on Thursday.
A “parenthesis” in the war
Following the discovery of the first case of polio in the Gaza Strip in 25 years, a major campaign to stem the risk of an outbreak began on 1er September, targeting 640,000 children under ten.
“Humanitarian pauses” in dedicated areas made it possible to carry out the operation in three stages, in the centre of the territory, in the south and finally in the north, where the first phase is about to be completed.
“We are confident that we have probably achieved the goal that we set,” said Dr.r Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the occupied Palestinian territories, during a press briefing.
“We are satisfied” with the campaign, which aims to prevent an outbreak in the Gaza Strip and beyond, he said.
More than 552,000 children had received a first dose as of Wednesday. They are due to receive their second dose in about four weeks, the UN agency said.
The aim is to prevent the spread of circulating poliovirus, derived from a vaccine strain of type 2 (cVDPV2).
Two drops of nVPO2 vaccine should be given four weeks apart.
The Dr Peeperkorn welcomed the fact that the belligerents respected the humanitarian pauses and that many children came with their parents.
Some days there was a “bit of a festive environment,” with children “well dressed” and who “probably haven’t been this happy” since the war began, he said.
Welcoming this “interlude” in the war, he hoped that it would continue to meet other humanitarian needs.
Record medical evacuation
The WHO also announced the evacuation on Wednesday of 97 sick or seriously injured people from the Gaza Strip and 155 other people accompanying them.
This is “the largest medical evacuation since October 2023,” commented WHO Director-General Dr.r Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on the social network X.
The patients — 45 children and 52 adults — were flown to Ramon Airport in Israel, via Kerem Shalom, before being flown to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
“We are grateful to the UAE government for its continued collaboration in helping patients in [la bande de] Gaza to receive life-saving care,” stressed Dr.r Tedros.
But the WHO is calling for “evacuation corridors to be established” on “all possible routes,” he added.
“We still estimate that more than 10,000 Gazans need to be evacuated for medical reasons,” said Dr.r Peeperkorn.
“Health system decimated”
“Ultimately, the best care for all patients is a ceasefire,” the WHO chief observed.
According to an analysis published Thursday by the WHO, at least a quarter of those injured since the beginning of the war will need to follow a long-term rehabilitation programme. This represents 22,500 people, for the period up to July 23.
Thousands of people have had amputations.
The Gaza Strip is sealed off and few people can leave to seek medical care elsewhere.
Only 17 of the 36 hospitals in this narrow Palestinian territory are operational, but only partially, and primary health care activities are frequently suspended or inaccessible due to insecurity, attacks and repeated evacuation orders, notes the WHO.
“Rehabilitation services and, by definition, all trauma services are being decimated because of the decimation of the health system,” lamented Dr.r Thanos Gargavanis, surgeon and emergency physician at the WHO.
The Hamas attack on October 7 killed 1,205 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures, which include hostages killed in captivity.
The ensuing Israeli military operation left more than 41,100 dead in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas-controlled territory’s health ministry.