UN organizations call for a humanitarian truce in Gaza to vaccinate 640,000 children against polio

New York - Ma'an - UN organizations stressed, on Tuesday, the need for a humanitarian truce in Gaza to enable medical teams to vaccinate more than 640,000 children with the polio vaccine. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) announced that it, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization, and partners are ready to vaccinate 640,000 children against polio in Gaza. She added: "But we need a truce for humanitarian reasons," warning that "delaying the truce will increase the risk of polio spreading among children." UNRWA announced yesterday that "polio vaccines have arrived in Gaza." For its part, UNICEF said in a statement that it "is bringing in 1.2 million doses of the polio vaccine (type 2) today to vaccinate more than 640,000 children in Gaza," indicating that it is doing so "in cooperation with the World Health Organization, UNRWA and other partners." In this regard, the United Nations stated on its website that "the Gaza Strip witnesse d the first case of polio in 25 years, after confirming that an infant in Deir al-Balah was infected with the disease." "UN agencies and their partners plan to conduct two rounds of polio vaccination campaigns across the Gaza Strip starting at the end of this month," she added, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire "to allow the two rounds of vaccination to take place." Source: Maan News Agency