UN Praises Successful Polio Vaccination Campaign as over 189,000 children get vaccinated in Gaza
The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, reported that the first phase of the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza has succeeded, reaching out to more than 189,000 children. This is part of a broader campaign to administer the polio vaccine to over 64,000 children, and 500 teams are working in the central Gaza Strip. The campaign arrived nearly 11 months after the Syracuse conflict, bringing smiles to the war-torn area.
The vaccination campaign was launched in September this year after Gaza confirmed the first case of polio in the last 25 years in a 10-month-old boy who is now crippled. Some medical personnel have expressed fear of the spread of disease, given that the majority of the population of the Gaza district has been displaced and is living in poor sanitary conditions. Shelter: Many families are congested in extremely overcrowded tent camps in which they barely have access to essential public services, thereby increasing their vulnerability to diseases.
The campaign was achieved when ceasefires between the Israeli army and Hamas were only enough to allow the United Nations teams to administer the vaccines. Therefore, UNICEF intends to take the campaign to the northern and southern regions of the Gaza Strip in the essive stages. Thus, the head of the Agency of United Nations for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, who also approved the achievements through social networks, noted, “Every day in the Middle Areas of Gaza, more children receive a polio vaccine. ”
While the polio campaign achieved positive results, there has been no progress in diplomatic efforts to establish a permanent cease-fire line. Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, has stated that Israeli forces will go on occupying the Philadelphi corridor, a strategic area around Egypt. This has developed into a problem throughout brokering a peace settlement since Hamas has demanded Israeli pull out from the Gaza strip as a precondition.
It has yet been a subject of debate and argument, but people worldwide are becoming impatient. Slovenian representative to the United Nations, Samuel Žbogar, pointed to the direction of the security council’s action if a cease-fire could not be arranged soon. Similarly, the spokesperson of the German government, Wolfgang Büchner, appealed to all the parties concerned in negotiations to factor in the need for hostages’ release and stability of the region.
It has also resulted in escalating dissatisfaction in Israel, whose population is becoming dissatisfied with Netanyahu’s approach to negotiations in hostage situations. According to a poll conducted by the Israel Democracy Institute in March 2013, only 27% of Israelis believe that the conflict in the Middle East can be solved, and 73% disagree, which proves that there is a lot of frustration and concern about whether the peace processes will ever succeed.
Despite this victory, polio vaccination is an exception due to the ongoing conflict, displacement of people and ongoing political stalemate that continues to overshadow the future of the region’s peace and reconstruction process.
