The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a campaign to vaccinate 40,000 children in the Gaza Strip
More than 10,000 children under the age of three were vaccinated in the first eight days of the campaign’s initial phase.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Wednesday that it plans to vaccinate more than 40,000 children in Gaza against multiple diseases, taking advantage of the current ceasefire.
According to the agency, over 10,000 children under the age of three were vaccinated in the first eight days of the initial phase, which began on 9 November.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the first phase has been extended until Saturday, with the goal of protecting children from measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, polio, rotavirus, and pneumonia.
Phases two and three—carried out with UNICEF, UNRWA, and the Gaza health ministry under Hamas administration—are scheduled for December and January.
Tedros said he was “encouraged that the ceasefire continues to hold,” as it enables WHO and its partners to expand essential health services and support efforts to re-equip and rebuild Gaza’s severely damaged health system.
On Monday, the UN Security Council endorsed the plan put forward by US President Donald Trump that helped establish the 10 October ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The truce has nonetheless seen occasional flare-ups in the territory, which has been ravaged by more than two years of fighting that followed the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel. That assault killed 1,221 people—mostly civilians—according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures.
In response, Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 69,500 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which is considered a reliable source by the UN. The ministry does not differentiate between combatants and civilians but says over half of the dead are women and children.
What's Your Reaction?
