UNICEF: 85% of children affected by polio live in… – UNICEF

Children are most at risk

“Children in conflict zones face much more than violence; they are at risk of deadly diseases that should have been eradicated a long time ago,” said Suzanne Laszlo, director of UNICEF in the Netherlands. “We are seeing health care systems collapse, clean water infrastructure destroyed and entire families displaced causing diseases like polio to re-emerge, unable to walk, play or to go to school.

Implications for the worldwide decline in vaccinations

The global decline in vaccinations against childhood diseases has led to more polio outbreaks, even in countries that were polio-free for years. This problem is most evident in conflict zones. Of the 21 conflict-affected countries, 15 are currently fighting polio, including Gaza, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and Yemen.

Emergency vaccination campaigns in conflict zones

UNICEF and its partners are working to intervene in several areas through emergency vaccination campaigns, but access to the most vulnerable areas remains a challenge due to ongoing violence. In Gaza, UNICEF, together with the World Health Organization (WHO), reached nearly 600,000 children under the age of 10 in the first round of a polio vaccination campaign in mid-September. The second and final phase of the campaign was successfully implemented in southern and central Gaza, but in northern Gaza the vaccination campaign was temporarily halted due to continuous and heavy bombings – movement

This year, due to the worsening situation in Gaza, polio returned for the first time in 25 years. In Sudan, the national level of childhood vaccination has dropped from 85 percent before the conflict to just 53 percent in 2023. In active conflict zones, this has even dropped to just 30 percent. This highlights the impact of the conflict on vaccination rates.

Eradicate polio for good

“It is essential that governments and international partners make their efforts to support vaccination campaigns and protect health care workers,” Laszlo emphasizes and act decisively. “