Anti-polio campaign kicks off

Health workers will try to vaccinate 16 million children in central Africa this week in an attempt to rid the region of polio. The five day campaign aims to immunise all children under five in Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. By simultaneously targeting the population at risk in one of the last reservoirs of polio, the campaigners hope to cut the viral transmission chain and finally eradicate the crippling disease. This will be the first time in the region that so many countries and their partner agencies have organised a joint campaign. The total cost is put at US $44 million, of which US $32 million will be spent in the DRC. As of Tuesday, there was still a funding shortfall of US $5 million in the DRC, which the government had been asked to contribute. The other countries have contributed from their state budgets, with Congo Brazzaville finding 30 percent of the total. UNICEF and the World Health Organisation are the lead agencies for the campaign which is also financed by USAID, the Center for Disease Control, Rotary and other donors. Similar campaigns have been carried out throughout the region during the past few years, but this year vaccinators aim to improve their coverage by going “door to door” instead of waiting for parents to bring their children to a vaccination site. “We shall also vaccinate children in the street, the market places, work places and wherever we find them,” said Dr Jean Claude Mubalama, who is coordinating the campaign in DRC, where 86,000 health workers will be involved. To counter criticism that the numbers vaccinated during previous years may have been exaggerated, or that the vaccines may not have been administered in time, independent verifiers will accompany the vaccinators. Certain “special groups” have been identified, such as pygmies, and followers of sects which reject immunisation. “Health workers must try to include all members from these groups,” said Krame Kandjoura, a WHO representative from Guinea. The DRC is the biggest logistical challenge, as some settlements may not be reached within the period that the vaccines can be conserved in portable containers. During the past few years, the UN system has been gearing up to announce the final eradication of polio worldwide, but a few cases were still notified in the DRC last year. Final eradication cannot be declared until no cases have been notified for five years.