The polio vaccination campaign has been postponed in northern Gaza Strip due to the escalating violence, according to a statement issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday.
The WHO stated on Wednesday that it planned to carry out the vaccination campaign in northern Gaza, aiming to vaccine nearly 120,000 children.
Yet the current conditions, including ongoing attacks on civilian infrastructure, continue to jeopardize people's safety and movement in northern Gaza, making it impossible for families to safely bring their children for vaccination, and for health workers to operate, says the statement.
It is imperative to stop the polio outbreak as soon as possible, before more children are paralyzed and poliovirus spreads further, it says.
Speaking at a press briefing, Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the UN chief, said the UN and its partners have been compelled to postpone the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza due to the escalating violence, intense bombardment, mass displacement orders, and the lack of assured humanitarian pauses across most of the north.
He said the vaccination campaign must be facilitated in the north through the implementation of humanitarian pauses.
The Israeli military operation in the Jabalia camp and its surrounding areas in the northern Gaza Strip has killed more than 770 Palestinians in the past 19 days, the Hamas-run Gaza media office said on Wednesday.
The ongoing operation has wounded more than 1,000 others and left dozens missing, as many civilians were forcibly displaced from their homes and residential neighborhoods, the office said in a statement.
The Palestinian death toll from ongoing Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip has risen to 42,792, Gaza-based health authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.
Polio vaccination postponed in northern Gaza due to escalating violence: WHO
Polio vaccination postponed in northern Gaza due to escalating violence: WHO
A France-headquartered Global Fortune 500 company is leveraging its technical advantages to enhance the new materials industry chain in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, and has expressed optimism about future development due to the city's favorable business environment.
19 years ago, Saint-Gobain, a manufacturer of a wide variety of building materials, established its first factory in Dengfeng, capitalizing on the region's transportation advantages, abundant mineral resources, and numerous upstream industrial enterprises. Today, the factory in Dengfeng is expanding by laying out new facilities and building additional production lines, achieving a total output value of 470 million yuan (approximately 66 million U.S. dollars) last year.
"We have three (factories) in Henan Province, and as always, when we come and when we invest in provinces in China, we feel a strong support from the local authorities and from the government," said Anthony Lopez, Asia-Pacific Communication Director of Saint-Gobain.
Lopez explained that the decision to establish a factory in Dengfeng was influenced by the presence of numerous car manufacturers and electric vehicle manufacturers, which are their primary clients.
"You (Henan) have a lot of car manufacturers and EV car manufacturers, so Saint-Gobain has different companies supplying those EV car-makers. So it's very important for us that we are also close to them when we established a manufacturing site," said Lopez.
Saint-Gobain produces highly wear-resistant abrasive grains from a material called corundum, which is primarily composed of alumina sourced from the local aluminum processing industry in Dengfeng.
The company's continued presence has helped to drive the local new materials industry chain in the city. In 2023, the output value of the new materials industry in Dengfeng exceeded 3 billion yuan (about 421.9 million U.S. dollars).
"Saint-Gobain is very strong on renovation and this is a very important part to become carbon neutral. If China wants to become carbon neutral, they need to renovate the houses and the building to make them more sustainable and for this we offer high performance solutions. So the future of Saint-Gobain in China, I believe, is very bright," Lopez said.
French company drives new materials industry as factories integrate with China's supply chains
