A mass campaign to inoculate hundreds of thousands of Gazan children against polio has brought a “rare bright spot” amid the conflict in the besieged enclave, UNICEF said, following the completion of the first phase of the vaccination roll-out.

In a statement provided to Al Arabiya English, Adele Khodr, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said the campaign – which follows the reemergence of polio in Gaza after 25 years – has surpassed targets, as she said there could be ‘no failure’ in ensuring every child is protected against the highly infectious viral disease.

“After almost a year of families experiencing horrors no man, woman or child should ever have to endure, this week we saw what can be achieved with, simply, will,” she said. “For at least a quarter of a century, there were no cases of polio in the Gaza Strip. Now from the depths of untreated sewage and rubble, the invisible menace is back.”

So far, one case of polio has been confirmed in an 11-month-old baby named Abdul-Rahman Abu Al-Jidyan.

“[This is] a child whose short life has already been punctuated by the most challenging circumstances and who will now suffer irreparable physical harm,” said Khodr, adding that the risk of polio spreading within Gaza and even beyond, especially to neighboring countries, remains high. “This week, we began to address it. UNICEF, UNRWA and WHO are working tirelessly to roll out a campaign in Gaza to vaccinate 640,000 children under 10 years of age.”

The first phase of the campaign, which ran from September 1-3, reached more than 189,000 children under 10 years old in the central area of the Gaza Strip, surpassing its initial target.

Approximately 513 teams were deployed across the area, Khodr said.

“Despite relentless attacks on schools and sites sheltering uprooted children, exhausting displacement orders forcing families to relocate time and again, and widespread hunger levels that have at points pushed parts of Gaza to the brink of famine, families made the effort to turn out in high numbers to the vaccination sites,” she said. “They know there is no time to waste to protect their children.”

“History and scientific evidence have shown us that the safest and most effective way to stop the spread and protect children against polio is through vaccination. The vaccine is safe, and effective, and has been used to protect children in more than 40 countries over the last three years.”

“However, none of this can be achieved without the area-specific humanitarian pauses to ensure healthcare workers and children can engage in the campaign without risking their lives.”

“The agreed pauses were respected in this first phase, giving families and health workers the confidence to get the job done.”

This pause must continue, said Khodr.

“Without a polio pause to implement the remaining two phases of the campaign, we will fail to protect the children of Gaza and place other children in the region at risk. We must reach at least 90 per cent vaccination coverage to stop the virus from spreading.”

“Preparing for this ambitious campaign and securing these pauses was not easy but it demonstrates that it is possible to allow supplies into the Strip, silence the strikes and protect civilians. There just has to be the will.”

Khodr said children in Gaza are “at the very sharp end of the war beyond the explosions and bullets threatening their lives daily.”

“The ongoing destruction of vital infrastructure - including in health, water, and sanitation systems – continues to increase the risk of deadly disease outbreaks across the Strip.”

Prior to the beginning of this conflict, children had very high immunization coverage in Gaza, of over 99 percent.

“This is among the most dangerous and difficult vaccination campaigns on the planet,” said Khodr. “The Gaza Strip is already the most dangerous place in the world to be a child, and even with a polio pause, the vaccination campaign faces grave danger and immeasurable obstacles, including damaged roads and health infrastructure, displaced populations, looting and disrupted supply routes.”

“Children have suffered enough. And now the stakes have risen to threatening other children in the region. We cannot fail.”

Last week, Al Arabiya English reported how the reemergence of polio in Gaza after a quarter of a century has sent alarm bells ringing among health experts, who warned of a potentially catastrophic outbreak that could compound the already dire humanitarian situation of thousands of children trapped in the conflict-torn enclave.

Consultant in infectious diseases at Burjeel Medical City, Abu Dhabi, Dr. Rachel Herbert, described it as “alarming, posing a significant threat to children in the Gaza Strip and neighboring countries.”

Poliomyelitis, which is spread mainly through the fecal-oral route, is a highly infectious virus that can invade the nervous system and cause paralysis and death in young children with those under two years old most at risk. In nearly all cases it has no symptoms, making it hard to detect.