On Aug. 21st, Rebuilding Alliance (RA) and the International Society for Social Pediatrics and Child Health (ISSOP) held our second Public Health Webinar: "Stopping Polio in Gaza, for Us All". Dr. Akbar from the WHO asks the American Medical Community to support a ‘Polio Pause’ medical truce to allow Gaza-wide polio vaccinations, starting on August 31st.
Hosted by Nisreen Malley, Director of Advocacy at Rebuilding Alliance, panelists included:
- Dr. Irfan Akbar, Polio Country Support Team Leader, World Health Organization (WHO)
- Dr. John Kahler, MD FAAP, cofounder, MedGlobal
- Mobeen Rathore, MD CPE FACPE FIDSA FAAP, Chief of Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology at University of Florida College of Medicine - Jacksonville
- Donna Baranski-Walker, Founder and Executive Director, Rebuilding Alliance
- Jeff Goldhagen, MD MPH, President of the International Society for Social Pediatrics and Child Health
Please email Congress NOW, bit.ly/Gaza-Med-Evac, to push for a medical truce in Gaza because an outbreak in Gaza would paralyze thousands there and spread polio to Israel, surrounding countries, and then the US, placing all under-vaccinated communities at risk.
Of Note: Health officials followed a paralytic polio case in New York’s Rockland county in 2022 and found poliovirus in wastewater samples throughout that county and a neighboring one. It was genetically linked to a vaccine-derived virus found that year in Jerusalem and wastewater samples in London.
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Dawn Clancy of Pass Blue reported in X about this webinar on Aug. 21, 2024:
x.com/dawnmcla...
"- NEW: Polio Updates from Dr. Irfan Elahi Akbar with the @WHO via briefing hosted by
@RebuildingAll
- Vaccine rollout scheduled to begin in Gaza on August 31 - this can change as negotiations continue. Vaccines and cooling units (cold chain storage) are scheduled (as of now) to arrive in Gaza on August 25.
- WHO estimates the campaign will need 5+2 days for proper vaccine rollout out but Dr. Akbar explained that this approach isn't "agreeable to the [Israeli] authorities" and will likely have to be done in a shorter time frame.
- WHO is still negotiating with COGAT on the areas in Gaza that will get the vaccine. From the UN's point of view the campaign can't be staggered but because of the security situation the Israeli authorities want it to be staggered. Negotiations ongoing.
- The West Bank, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria are all at risk if the virus spreads further.
- Dr. Akbar described the current response to polio in Gaza as being "a bit late." Meaning the virus has been circulating for almost six or seven months."
22 авг 2024
