Millions of kids benefit from campaign - UNICEF

The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) this week said a recent health and education campaign, backed by aid agencies and supported by the government, had yielded positive results benefiting millions of Angolan children. Under the National Measles Campaign, more than seven million children were immunised against the disease in April and May. Measles reportedly kills more young Angolans than any other preventable ailment. It is estimated that as a result of the campaign, some 70,000 children and US $16 million in medical costs will now be saved. "Development in services to fight child mortality are critical if Angolans are to recover from the ruinous results of war," UNICEF Resident Representative Mario Ferrari said in a statement. Almost three decades of civil war between the government and the former rebel group, UNITA, destroyed most of the country's infrastructure. United Nations figures show that 25 percent of Angolan children die before the age of five, 45 percent of the children suffer from chronic malnutrition, and only 27 percent of one-year old children are fully immunised against preventable diseases. In addition, 45 percent of Angolan children do not go school. UNICEF has attributed the success of the measles immunisation campaign to the close collaboration between government and humanitarian groups. "It was essential that authorities felt that they were part of the solution. This created an effective partnership which contributed to success of the campaign and subsequently benefited the children, who are one of the most vulnerable groups in the country," UNICEF communications officer in Angola, James Elder, told IRIN. Elder added that about 250,000 Angolan children went back to school as a result of the country's biggest-ever education campaign. A further 250,000 children also benefited from teacher training. The Ministry of Education recently also announced an allocation of US $40 million to employ 29,000 new teachers. UNICEF said the funds would mean one million more school places for children in 2004.