News outlets report on the challenges of providing polio vaccinations to displaced persons in Syria, especially women and children, as violence continues to escalate.

Reuters: Fighting halts polio vaccination in northern Syria
“Heavy fighting has prevented health workers from getting polio vaccine to an estimated 100,000 Syrian children in the northeastern province of Raqqa, United Nations aid agencies said on Monday, appealing for access. … The World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.N. Children’s Fund (UNICEF) condemned the halt of the immunization campaign in Raqqa province due to intense fighting in Syria’s civil war…” (1/13).

Agence France-Presse: ICRC urges Syria aid access as clashes halt polio immunization
“The situation in Syria is ‘catastrophic,’ the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross warned on Monday, urging ‘actions that translate into greater field access’ for aid. … UNICEF and the WHO said the fighting had not only interrupted immunization ‘but is also increasing the suffering of the Syrian people, not least women and children’…” (1/13).