ANGOLA: Over half a million vaccinated against polio

More than half a million children living in and around the Angolan capital, Luanda, have been vaccinated in an emergency campaign against polio which has already claimed 30 lives. In its latest weekly report, the UN Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (UCAH), said that the national health authorities and UNICEF had helped vaccinate 634,368 children under five in Luanda and its surrounding province. "As of 19 April, the total number of reported cases in Luanda Province was 487, while the death toll was 30. Until the present moment, 7 cases were reported in Benguela Province (with three deaths) and two in Icolo-e-Bengo municipality in Bengo Province," the UCAH report said. Benguela lies some 500 km south of Luanda, and Bengo is in central Angola. In Luanda, it said UNICEF had trained 18 health technicians, and arrangements were being made to establish 16 health posts around the city,where among other functions, they would assist with water purification.