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https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/jul/25/gaza-palestine-poliovirus-discovery-unicef>
"The “incredibly alarming” discovery of the poliovirus in Gaza only adds to the
besieged territory’s status as one of “the most dangerous places to be a child
right now”, the head of the UN children’s agency has warned.
The executive director of Unicef, Catherine Russell, said during a visit to
Australia that Gaza was increasingly lawless.
As the Israeli military offensive continued, humanitarian workers were “risking
their lives every day” to help Palestinian civilians.
In her only Australian interview, Russell raised alarm about the impact of
conflicts in Sudan and Ukraine. She also said youth in low-lying Pacific island
countries were “impatient with the world” for failing to act on the climate
crisis.
After Unicef helped carry out tests of sewage samples from Gaza that showed the
presence of poliovirus, Russell said: “It’s incredibly alarming.”
Russell said the world was “getting so close, we believe, to getting rid of
polio once and for all”, so any potential emergence of the poliovirus requires
“close attention”.
She raised concerns about the spread of other infectious diseases such as
cholera in Gaza.
“When children are already hungry and weak, their bodies are much more
vulnerable and susceptible to getting these diseases.”
Addressing the overall situation in Gaza, Russell said the territory had “some
competition on this front but it’s certainly one of the most, if not the most
dangerous place to be a child right now”.
She said these dangers were not just because of the direct impact of the
conflict but also because health centres had “been destroyed or radically
compromised” and the population had been “displaced multiple times”.
“People are moving with nothing and moving to places where there is nothing.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
