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UN Health Agency To Vaccinate Millions
UN Health Agency To Vaccinate Millions Of Children In The Horn Of AFRICA
New York, Sep 8 2006 10:00AM
In the largest-ever synchronized vaccination campaign in the Horn of Africa, Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya will simultaneously vaccinate millions of children under five years of age starting this weekend, the United Nations World Health Organization () announced today.
In Ethiopia, the polio vaccination
campaign will administer two drops of Oral Polio Vaccine
(OPV) to nearly 1 million children, from the two regions of
Somali and Afar that border Somalia and parts of Kenya. On
the Somali side of the border, vaccinators will aim to reach
a total of 1.7 million children in a nation-wide campaign,
with exceptional concentration on regions bordering Ethiopia
and Kenya. In northern Kenya, a total of 240,000 children
will be targeted in five districts bordering Somalia and
Ethiopia, the agency said.
Polio-free for almost three years, Somalia became
re-infected last year with a poliovirus imported from Yemen,
WHO said, and has since seen some 215 confirmed cases. Since
its re-infection in December 2004, Ethiopia has reported a
total of 37 polio cases with four out of 11 regions
infected. The high-risk areas remain the cross-border region
of Somali, Ethiopia and north/central areas of Somalia.
Kenya has been polio-free for the last 22 years. The
upcoming drive will involve teams on the ground ensuring
that every child is vaccinated by moving from house to
house, in cities, towns, and villages, and in hard to reach
areas, using all transportation means possible, such as
camels, horses and donkeys.
The polio eradication effort
in the Horn also involves religious and community leaders,
women’s groups, youth associations, schools, and
governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), all
working to prevent the paralysis of children, WHO
said. The complex operating and unstable environments,
exacerbated by recurrent drought and floods in Somalia and
heavy rains in Ethiopia, continue to hamper the
implementation of high-quality polio immunization campaigns,
according to the agency. International and national staff
have difficulties accessing conflict zone areas.
Depending on the availability of funds, three
synchronized campaigns are planned for this year, in
September, November and December in the Horn of Africa, WHO
said. But globally, there is a funding gap of $50 million
for 2006, which the agency said in a news release “must be
filled urgently by October to ensure the implementation of
planned activities through the end of the year. If these
funds are not mobilized, it warned, “immunization
campaigns may need to be scaled back, which would result in
more children being
paralyzed.” Ends
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