WHO chief Tedros says polio detected in Gaza, appeals for action

[August 01, 2024]  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that polio had been detected in Gaza and warned that children in the war-ravaged enclave would soon be infected by the disease if preventative measures were not quickly taken.

A day after the WHO said there were "very likely" polio cases among Gaza's population, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus took to social media platform X to flag concern about the human cost of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

"The detection of polio in Gaza is another reminder of the dire conditions the population is facing," Tedros wrote on X. "The persistence of the conflict hampers efforts to identify and respond to preventable threats such as polio."

Tedros linked his post to an article he had written in French newspaper Le Monde, published late on Tuesday, in which he said poliovirus has been detected in sewage samples in Gaza.

In the article, the WHO chief wrote that although no cases of polio had yet been recorded, "unless immediate action is taken, it is only a matter of time before the disease reaches the thousands of unprotected children" there.

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis and death in young children.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks during an event about expanding health coverage for all during the IMF and World Bank’s 2024 annual Spring Meetings in Washington, U.S., April 18, 2024. REUTERS/Ken Cedeno/File Photo

Polio cases have declined by 99% worldwide since 1988 thanks to mass vaccination campaigns and efforts to eradicate it.

The WHO is sending more than a million polio vaccines to Gaza to be administered in the coming weeks to prevent children from becoming infected with the disease, Tedros said.

(Reporting by Marine Strauss; Additional reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Gareth Jones)

[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.