POLIO IN GAZA: WHO Raises 'Extreme' Concern About Outbreak
Gaza does not have the health infrastructure to control an outbreak
The Israeli military said it detected traces of polio in sewage samples at two sites in Gaza last month raising concerns of a major outbreak.
Dr. Mithqal Abutaha, program manager of Project HOPE, a global health nongovernmental organization that runs clinics in the areas of Gaza where polio was discovered, told NBC News that an outbreak of the disease inside the war-torn enclave would be a disaster.
“The health care infrastructure is ruined. There is no capability enough to control this outbreak,” he said.
The Mayo Clinic defines polio as “an illness caused by a virus that mainly affects nerves in the spinal cord or brain stem. In its most severe form, polio can lead to a person being unable to move certain limbs, also called paralysis. It can also lead to trouble breathing and sometimes death.”
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, wrote an op-ed in The Guardian, stating that most hospitals in Gaza “are no longer able to function. Already, diarrhoeal diseases, respiratory infections and hepatitis A, among others, are raging through Gaza. Nearly everyone in Gaza is facing acute food insecurity and catastrophic hunger. Thousands of children are malnourished, making them even more susceptible to disease.”
He continued: “While no cases of polio have been recorded yet, without immediate action, it is just a matter of time before it reaches the thousands of children who have been left unprotected.”
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