Government launches “mop-up” polio drive in southern provinces

The government launched a three-day “mop-up” campaign against polio on Tuesday, targeting close to three million children under five years old throughout 13 governorates. “This is a mop-up campaign covering 13 governorates around the Ibb province, 150 km south of the capital, where polio was last detected in February,” said World Health Organization (WHO) representative in Yemen Dr Hashim al-Zain. The governorates to be targeted include: Ibb; Abyan; al-Beidha; Hodiedah; Taiz; Thamar; Shabwa; Marib; Dhal’e; Hajja; and the capital province of Sana’a. Some 24,000 health workers and volunteers will be taking part in the campaign. “This is just a protective measure, as we must enhance children’s immunity to avoid reactivation of the polio virus,” said al-Zain. “We also have to target newborn infants in these areas, which have seen heavy transmission of the disease in the past.” Between April 2005 and February 2006, the health ministry confirmed a total of 474 polio cases, including six fatalities. According to WHO officials, however, subsequent vaccination campaigns have been relatively successful in bringing the epidemic under control. “Only three cases were detected since October 2005, indicating that the immunisation campaigns have been very effective,” al-Zain said. “In some countries, it takes at least a year to stop the virus, but here we brought it under control in only five months.” Al-Zain went on to say, however, that Yemen would need more time – and two or three additional immunisation drives – before it was completely free of the disease. He expected a new campaign to be launched late this year. A polio outbreak was announced in May 2005 after 18 cases were reported following a routine national immunisation programme, conducted on the advice of the WHO. According to the health organisation, Yemen accounted for 36 percent of the 1,310 polio cases registered worldwide in the first nine months of 2005. During immunisation drives last year, many parents refused vaccinations for their children, believing the shots could result in infertility, with a number of local religious leaders also cautioning against them. According to health workers, however, there has been a sea change in public attitudes towards immunisation, largely as a result of awareness campaigns involving progressive religious leaders. Polio, a highly infectious viral disease, can paralyse a victim’s limbs in a matter of hours, with young children most at risk. Before its re-emergence last year, the WHO had declared Yemen to be polio-free in 1996.