Palestinian Health classifies Gaza as polio epidemic area

OCCUPIED PALESTINE, July 29 (YPA) – The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Monday evening that the Gaza Strip has been classified as a polio epidemic area after years of eliminating the disease in Palestine.

This classification comes as a result of the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip due to the Israeli aggression, which resulted in the destruction of infrastructure, deprivation of residents of usable water, accumulation of garbage, and food insecurity.

The Ministry confirmed in a statement that the CVPV2 polio virus was discovered in wastewater in the Khan Yunis and Central governorates, endangering public health and posing a threat to neighboring countries.

It explained that the epidemic control program launched by the Ministry in cooperation with UNICEF and the World Health Organization will not be sufficient unless immediate measures are taken to end the aggression.

It also called for finding radical solutions to the problems of drinking water, personal hygiene methods, repairing sewage networks, and removing tons of garbage and solid waste.

The Gaza Strip has been suffering from an outbreak of infectious diseases since the beginning of the Israeli attack, and the reason for the high number of infections is due to deteriorating living conditions, ongoing waves of displacement, and the lack of basic hygiene methods such as water, in addition to severe crowding.