The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has announced new measures designed to effect the total eradication of polio in Ethiopia following the receipt of a key grant from the government of Japan. Vaccines and related equipment had begun arriving in the country in time for a series of National Immunisation Days (NIDs), which would be carried out door-to-door during the second week respectively of November and December, UNICEF announced on Tuesday. The Japanese contribution of US $4.2 million is the single largest contribution toward immunisation efforts in Ethiopia and will allow for the vaccination of 14 million children against polio and 1.6 million children against measles. Ethiopia now needs to be polio-free for three consecutive years to achieve Global Certification and remain within UNICEF's target of eradicating polio globally by the year 2005.
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
Share this article
