First sport and immunisation festival held

The first ever combined sport and immunisation festival took place in Ghana, during the weekend launch of the country's Olympic Aid Sport Health program. A five-in-one vaccine campaign was initiated to immunise children against five killer diseases, namely diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae type B (HiB), the UN Foundation said on Tuesday. The campaign is a joint initiative of the Vaccine Fund, the Olympic Aid, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the foundation added in a statement posted on the UN Wire service. The Vaccine Fund, it added, will provide nearly US $7.5 million to support the Ghana programme in 2002. Yellow fever vaccination will also be included in next year's activities. According to the UN, the campaign marks the first time a West African country has adopted the five-in-one vaccine in infant immunisation programs. "Every child, everywhere, has the right to receive the life-saving vaccines that children in wealthy countries take for granted," it quoted Vaccine Fund President Jacques-Francois Martin, as saying. Seven percent of children in Ghana die before one year of age, while 73,000 of those under five die every year - many of them from immunisable diseases, according to UNICEF. So far, 73 percent of the country's children have been immunised against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis. A statement from the Vaccine Fund, on Saturday said athletes including U.S. runner Marion Jones, equestrian Princess Haya of Jordan, and Cameroonian soccer star Roger Milla were present at the event in the capital Accra.