Vaccination of 3.9 million against measles, polio begins

A campaign to vaccinate some 3.9 million Burundian children against measles and polio was launched on Monday, with UN agencies appealing to parties at war in the country to observe "days of tranquillity" to ensure health workers can conduct their work in safety, UNICEF announced. It said the UN Humanitarian Coordinator and the heads of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation country offices had also called on the warring parties to ensure safe movement of health workers during the second immunisation campaign, to be conducted from 23 to 26 July. For the 11-day effort beginning on Monday, some 3.3 million children between the ages of nine months and 14 years will be vaccinated against measles, and 627,720 between 0-59 months against polio. Another 1.2 million children will be given vitamin A supplements. A second dose of polio vaccine will be administered to the 627,720 children in July. UNICEF said eight provinces targeted in this year's vaccination campaign included those prone to insecurity and those bordering the Democratic Republic of the Congo. UNICEF said 400,000 African children were dying from measles each year. In Burundi, it added, the decline in routine measles immunisation coverage to below 50 percent in 1999 had led to a serious epidemic the following year, "with over 20,000 children contracting the disease with a high rate of death". The current immunisation drive targeted three times the number of children as in 2001, UNICEF said. Health workers would make door-to-door visits, and at least 4,000-community workers would reach the most remote and insecurity areas to ensure high coverage rates, it added. A very broad range of national and international NGOs, teachers and religious and community leaders would also be involved in mobilising the public and organising vaccination centres.