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EFTA00651063 | EFTA00651069 deprived whole cities of food, paralyzed children have much less chance of making it through the acute stage, let alone of full recovery. Speaking to a doctor who had examined a thirteen-month-old girl from Spighan, I was told of weakness in her legs and chest, a weak cry, and a poor cough—signals of respiratory distress. When I asked what was being done for her, he replied: "There is no way to measure saturation, monitor respiration, or ventilate—no electricity for about a year now, let alone oxygen. Supplies stopped two years ago. All I could do was diagnose her." On October 2, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted a statement by the UN president urging the protection of civilians, access to besieged communities, and humanitarian assistance across internal lines and international borders. However, the Syrian government continues to forbid the UN and its agencies to provide cross-border aid from Turkey, although this is by far the easiest and most efficient way to reach many of the 2.5 million children in most urgent need of food, water, and vaccination. The UN's humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, says that cross-border aid remains "a red line for the Syrian government." Given the serious questions about the government's response to the polio outbreak, several nongovernmental organizations, guided by the ACU, banded together in November to form the Polio Task Force to meet the needs of the estimated 2.7 million children most at risk. The task force established a cold chain across seven governorates in northern Syria, trained more than six thousand health care workers, and raised awareness in atrisk communities. But the ACU effort has been stymied by a lack of vaccines—neither Damascus, WHO, nor UNICEF would or could provide them. Doctors Without Borders—Holland tried to buy polio vaccines directly from a manufacturer, but UNICEF, acting on the Syrian government's behalf, was forced to block it. Only in the last days of December was the Turkish government able to facilitate the provision of 2.5 million doses of vaccine— enough for one round—for use in Syria. A midwinter campaign for Syria's children outside governmentcontrolled areas began in early January. Turkey vaccinates children who cross its border or live in refugee camps on its territory, but for children inside Syria, the Syrian government will not let WHO or UNICEF help the ACU. The UN agencies have chosen to maintain good relations with the government and access to government-controlled areas rather than demanding access to children at risk, and they fear expulsion if they do so. Unofficially, they freely acknowledge that there are unvaccinated children in many parts of Syria. Although jihadists are increasingly dominant in many opposition-controlled areas, when I revisited the Turkish border in late December they were not blocking Syrians from conducting the polio campaign or leading medical convoys. The recent abduction of five international workers for Doctors Without Borders and the execution of an activist Syrian doctor, apparently by the al-Qaeda-IinkedlSlS, raise valid concerns about the safety of international and national aid workers. But the ACU's cross-border campaign to vaccinate 2.7 million children has been facilitated by the Free Syrian Army and the Islamic Front, a group of rebel militias that this month began attacking the ISIS. Hundreds of ACU employees across northeast Syria are conducting a door-todoor campaign, coordinated with local councils, villages, and municipalities, which began on January 2. The ACU negotiated permission from all opposition groups, including the ISIS and al-Nusra. When one campaign leader heading a convoy of doctors and vaccines was arrested on January 1 at an ISIScheckpoint in Aleppo, he was quickly released. "Even ISIS recognizes the radical threat of polio, getting us and vaccines across borders where the WHO cannot," I was told by Khaled Almilaji, who is coordinating the campaign led by the Polio Task Force. Parallel with the Syrian government's efforts, the UN and WHO have mounted an effort in the neighboring countries to try to mitigate the spread of polio beyond Syria's borders. The plan is to vaccinate 22 million children over the next six to eight months.k3 But by ignoring the epicenter of the epidemic, the UN facilitates Assad's forced-displacement strategy, creating an incentive for civilians in opposition-held areas to flee abroad, where the chances of protecting their children from both bombs and polio are greater. As asylum seekers and smuggled migrants spread across the region, EFTA00651069
May 4, 2026 at 11:34 PM