Last Updated on 03/09/2024 by Arun jain
Deir al-Balah, Gaza – Maha Abu Shamas, 27, has been getting ready to administer the polio vaccine to her four children, all under 10, early in the morning.
Maha, a mother of five, has been living in a classroom in the central Gaza Strip of Deir al-Balah since the family was displaced from Beit Hanoun in the north last November.
“When I heard about the danger of polio spreading, I panicked for my children. When I learned of a confirmed case of paralysis, I felt like my world had collapsed,” said Maha, holding her nine-month-old boy inside the busy pediatric ward of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, the last functioning medical facility in Deir El. -Balah.
Gaza’s Ministry of Health confirmed this last month First case of polio – A 10-month-old boy, now paralyzed in the legs – in the enclave After 25 yearsFollowing the discovery of poliovirus in wastewater. The United Nations, along with Gaza health officials a Vaccination campaign To protect children against polio, which can cause irreversible paralysis of limbs or death. About 640,000 children under 10 will receive oral drops of the vaccine to protect against the virus which mainly affects children under five, is highly contagious and has no cure.
The threat of polio has increased Maha’s anxiety. Displaced parents like her are already facing harsh, unsanitary conditions in shelters such as the school where Maha and her children live and in tent camps in Gaza, as they try to survive Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed more people. have gone 40,700 Palestinians.
“Lack of sanitation is the main symptom due to overcrowding, crumbling infrastructure and catastrophic health conditions,” she explains.
“The school I live in is full of sewage and sewage,” adds Maha. “I cannot maintain the hygiene or health of my children under these conditions.”
In addition to taking her children to Al-Aqsa Hospital for vaccinations, Maha had to bring her youngest child to the pediatric ward three days after he developed a high fever and vomiting.
“Most of my days in the war are spent like this – taking my sick children to hospital for treatment due to the spread of diseases, if available,” she says. “If this is how we struggle with minor illnesses like the stomach flu, how can we fight serious diseases like polio?”
Maha’s life took a devastating turn last month when her husband was killed in an Israeli airstrike near their shelter. “Now, I am the sole caretaker of five children. It’s overwhelming, but like thousands of mothers in Gaza, I have no choice but to move on.
While she welcomes the polio vaccination campaign, she points out that this addresses only one threat posed by dire living conditions. “Malnutrition, hepatitis, skin diseases, fatigue – our children face many threats. The real solution lies in improving living conditions and ending war,” she says. “We have suffered enough.”
Loss of confidence in the international community
For 31-year-old Haneen Abdullah, the decision to vaccinate her children against polio was fraught with hesitation.
Hanin, a mother of three young children, was displaced with her family from Jabalia in northern Gaza, and they now share a cramped space with 25 members of her family.
“In the same classroom, there are about 40 other people full,” she says, speaking at Al-Aqsa Hospital, describing her situation as tragic.
The college where she lives is overcrowded, with drain bridges all over and long queues for toilets. The outer walls are black from the wood fire used for cooking.
She says she doesn’t trust any action taken by international organizations when it comes to the health of children in Gaza.
“Our children are killed daily by bombs and missiles, even in supposedly safe areas. Some are beheaded,” she says bitterly.
“This madness is still going on and yet, they are only talking about the polio threat?”
Like many displaced families at her shelter, Henin initially resisted vaccinating her children.
“People here have lost faith in anything global or western,” she explains.
“Some displaced people around the world believe in conspiracy theories that vaccines contain substances planted by Israel and the US to weaken our children.”
Despite her doubts, she finally felt she couldn’t risk her children’s health, especially after hearing about a confirmed case of polio in Gaza, so she brought them to the hospital.
“I understand that families live in a state of desperate warfare. We are like the living dead trapped in an unbearable situation,” she says, holding her child.
“I gave birth to my baby last November and since then he has been living a miserable childhood in a shelter,” he says dejectedly.
“He has no proper nutrition, no clothes, no toys. He suffers from skin rashes and constant fatigue.
For Hanin, the fight against polio is only a small part of a larger struggle.
“It is important to save our children from polio, but the real fight is against the living conditions imposed by war. These conditions are destroying their mental and psychological health and even their future,” she argues.
“What is the point of vaccinating children and protecting them from disease, when the war that kills them every day continues? This is nonsense.”
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