UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday urged for safe passage for health workers in a polio immunisation campaign which was launched in Kinshasa on Thursday. In a statement, Annan said that with polio now present in less than 20 countries worldwide, it was essential that all children be reached with polio vaccine “today, if they are to deliver the promise of a polio-free world tomorrow”. The synchronised National Immunisation Days (NIDs) for polio eradication was launched to immunise more than 15 million children in Angola, Congo, DRC, and Gabon. “I urge all leaders in these countries and all warring parties to respect the National Immunisation Days as ‘days of tranquillity’ and to ensure the safe passage of health workers and volunteers in their efforts to reach all children with polio vaccine over the coming week, and again in August and September of this year,” Annan said.
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