GAZA: The first case of polio virus has been reported from the war-devastated Gaza after 25 long years.
Health department officials said that the polio case has emerged from Derul Balh locality of Gaza. They said that the affected child is aged 10 months and had not received any polio drops due to the ongoing war on Gaza by Israel.
Earlier, UNICEF had also found polio virus in samples collected from Khan Yunus and Derul Balh. International organizations have already warned of the spread of polio virus in Gaza due to the break down of the health infrastructure.
UNICEF said that the situation was not only alarming for the children of Gaza but the whole world as the polio virus could spread across borders.
Hamas has welcomed the appeal of the United Nations for a one week break to the war so that the health officials could carry out a campaign to vaccinate the children of Gaza.
According to the world body, over 6400,000 children in Gaza are in an immediate need of polio drops to save them from the crippling disease. It may be mentioned here that since October last year, Israel has continued war on Gaza, destroying healthcare and other infrastructure and displacing the local people.
The Israeli forces have also killed about 40,000 people, 32 percent of them being children and women, in the Gaza strip.
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