Good morning, good afternoon and good evening,
Today the WHO family is in mourning over the sudden passing of our dear friend and colleague, Aidan O’Leary, the Director of the WHO Polio Eradication Programme.
Aidan died suddenly last night from natural causes while on holiday with his family.
He was an outstanding humanitarian who served tirelessly in the most difficult parts of the world.
He joined WHO in 2020, after a career of service in the United Nations in some of the world’s most difficult places, including Afghanistan, Gaza, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Yemen.
He embodied the ideal of service and solidarity across peoples and borders.
His passing is a terrible loss for WHO and for all of humanity, but most of all for his family and friends, in his native Ireland and throughout the world.
On behalf of WHO, I extend my deepest condolences to them all.
We will miss Aidan enormously, and we will remember him for his kindness, openness and friendliness. He was a gentle giant, in every sense.
We are committed to continuing his legacy to realise his vision - and ours - of a polio-free world.
Rest in peace, my dear friend. As the Irish say, Ar dheis dé go raibh a anam dilis.
Link shared by Niloufar Pourzand
https://polioeradication.org/news-post/tragic-passing-of-gpei-director-aidan-oleary/
One of the last things Aidan was working on was preparations for two rounds of polio vaccination campaigns in Gaza, targeting 600 000 children under the age of 8.
WHO is sending more than 1 million polio vaccines to Gaza, which will be administered in the coming weeks.
The detection of polio in wastewater in Gaza is a tell-tale sign that the virus has been circulating in the community, putting unvaccinated children at risk.
WHO is also supporting routine immunization and disease surveillance, including for polio.
We need absolute freedom of movement for health workers and medical equipment to carry out these complex operations safely and effectively.
A ceasefire, or at least “days of tranquility” during preparation and delivery of the vaccination campaigns are required to protect children in Gaza from polio.
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