UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 16 -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday called for a "polio pause" in Gaza for a polio vaccination campaign.

In recent weeks, poliovirus has been detected in wastewater samples in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah, meaning that the virus, which can cause paralysis, is now circulating, with hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza at risk.

"Polio does not care about dividing lines, and polio does not wait," the UN chief told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York, stressing that preventing and containing the spread of polio will take a massive, coordinated and urgent effort.

The United Nations is set to launch a two-phase polio vaccine campaign in Gaza for more than 640,000 children under the age of 10, and the World Health Organization has approved the release of 1.6 million doses of the polio vaccine.

The UN Children's Fund is coordinating delivery efforts and the cold chain equipment needed for storage, and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the largest primary healthcare provider in Gaza, has medical teams ready to administer the vaccines and assist with logistics.

"But the challenges are grave," with health, water, and sanitation systems in Gaza decimated, most hospitals and primary care facilities not functional, and people constantly forced to run for safety, Guterres pointed out.

He outlined other challenges facing the campaign, including transport for vaccines and cold chain equipment, the entry of polio experts, fuel for health teams, reliable internet and phone services, and an increase in the amount of cash to pay health workers.

"And, above all, a successful polio vaccination campaign needs safety" for health workers, children and families, and health facilities to be protected from bombardment, he said.

The UN chief appealed to all parties to provide concrete assurances right away guaranteeing humanitarian pauses for the campaign. "The ultimate vaccine for polio is peace and an immediate humanitarian ceasefire," said Guterres, adding: "But in any case, a polio pause is a must."

Polio goes beyond politics, and transcends all divisions, he said. "And so it is our shared obligation to come together. To mobilize -- not to fight people, but to fight polio."

  - Xinhua