The ongoing crisis in Gaza has contributed to reduced routine immunization rates. It has increased risk of vaccine-preventable diseases, including polio. The crisis also poses a significant challenge to fully implementing disease surveillance and vaccination campaigns.
The recent detection of variant poliovirus type-2 isolates in environmental samples and the confirmation of a 10-month-old child who has contracted polio in Gaza is a stark reminder that as long as polio exists anywhere, it is a threat everywhere.
The World Health Organization (WHO) considers there to be a high risk for the spread of this polio strain within Gaza and internationally, particularly given the current situation's impact on public health services. Rotary will continue to work with its partners in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative and other agencies as vaccination efforts unfold. It is estimated that 650,000 need to be vaccinated.
Rotary International initiated the global campaign to rid the world of the life-crippling, sometimes deadly, disease of polio in 1986 and has been actively engaged in that campaign ever since. In the past almost 40 years Rotary and world health organizations, foundations and governments, have reduced annual polio cases from 350,000 in 120 countries to an average 20 or so in two countries. So this flare up of polio in Gaza is a serious concern because this disease can easily spread beyond the region.
A humanitarian pause in Gaza allowed a two-round polio vaccination campaign that began on 1 September. Initial reports indicate the campaign started successfully, with teams showing strong commitment and high levels of community participation.
Rotary is committing US$500,000 to bolster the initiative, channeling these funds through a dedicated Polio Outbreak Response Fund. This contribution represents Rotary's sustained support to the WHO in combating polio globally.
Financial contributions to the PolioPlus fund will help Rotary and its Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners achieve a world in which no child is paralyzed by polio again.
Follow the latest on the polio vaccination campaign in Gaza.