Polio campaign a “major achievement”

Meanwhile, preliminary results from the third round of the national polio immunisation campaign indicate that over 85 percent of the target population was reached, the report said. The last of the country’s National Immunisation Days (NIDs), conducted from 22-24 October, sought to immunise children who were not covered during the first two rounds earlier this year. It also included measles vaccination and distribution of vitamin A supplements. The campaign, organised by UNICEF, WHO and their partners, aimed to vaccinate some 10 million children under five years of age as part of global polio eradication efforts. “Although the final cumulative results of the vaccination campaign are still to be analysed, it is already now clear that the NIDs were among the major achievements of the relief community in 1999,” the report stated.