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Annan urges ceasefire to allow polio vaccination campaign

    NAIROBI
    UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday urged all the combatants in the DRC conflict to cease hostilities throughout the country and respect "days of tranquillity" from 8 to 20 August, before and during the country's first polio vaccination round. The campaign aims to vaccinate some 10 million Congolese children under five against the disease. In a press release, Annan said both the government of President Laurent-Desire Kabila and the RCD had previously committed themselves to facilitating the vaccination campaign. Meanwhile, humanitarian partners including UNICEF, WHO, provincial health personnel and NGOs have identified 16,000 vaccination sites and are preparing -in spite of logistical and security constraints - for the campaign's scheduled start on 13 August, the press release added. Two more vaccination rounds are planned for September and October.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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