Twelve million children to be vaccinated against polio

The government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), with the cooperation of UNICEF, the World Health Organisation (WHO), other UN agencies and NGOs will conduct a vaccination programme for some 12 million children against polio throughout the country at the beginning of July. The announcement was made jointly by the DRC government and the UN in Kinshasa on Wednesday during the launch of the programme, known as “National Vaccination Days 2001”. UN peacekeeping troops and military observers from the UN mission in DRC (MONUC), whose mission is to oversee the application of a ceasefire agreement between the warring parties, have agreed to lend logistical capability to dispatch vaccines to remote parts of the country and to protect vaccination teams.

This year’s campaign is targeting 12 million children aged below five across the DRC, and will be carried out in three phases: the beginning of July, mid-August and mid-September. A similar programme is to be held concurrently in Congo-Brazzaville, Angola and Gabon.