Global humanitarian organisation International Medical Corps will begin providing vaccinations to children in Gaza as part of a campaign organised by the World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent the spread of polio in the region.
Working in coordination with the WHO Health Cluster, International Medical Corps will offer vaccinations from September 1–4 in its field hospital in Al Zawaida, which among the many services it offers has a clinic that specialises in paediatrics and women’s health. The hospital will have four vaccination points, and plans to vaccinate 6,000 children during the four-day period.
International Medical Corps also will offer health education and hygiene promotion activities at the Al Zawaida hospital, as well as at its 250-bed hospital in Deir al Balah, which has been designated to receive all trauma cases from Gaza’s central region and is currently serving more than 1,000 patients each day.
International Medical Corps’ vaccination activities will be part of the Health Cluster’s goal of vaccinating thousands of children between the ages of 0–10 in Gaza’s central region. The WHO recently confirmed that at least one child has been paralysed by the type 2 poliovirus, the first such case in Gaza in 25 years.
International Medical Corps also is in discussions to support risk communication and community engagement efforts, leveraging its network of 1,200 community health volunteers who have been recruited and trained as part of its Find and Treat campaign, which is addressing malnutrition among children in Gaza. It will launch these activities in communities once it has received approval from local authorities.
Find out more about International Medical Corps efforts to help civilians in Gaza.