Pygmy children included in polio vaccination campaign

Pygmies were among 682,640 children under the age of five years vaccinated against polio during the first round of the first cross-border, synchronised polio vaccination campaign for 2002 to be held in the Republic of the Congo between 25 and 29 July. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said all children aged 0-59 months were vaccinated against polio and all aged 6-59 months were also dosed with vitamin A. At least 3,000 vaccination and mobilisation teams were involved in the Ministry of Health's campaign, which was supported by the World Health Organisation, UNICEF, Rotary International, the International Federation of the Red Cross, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [Full UNICEF report on http://www.reliefweb.int]