Polio vaccination campaign begins in south

Niger, one of the poorest countries of the world, has begun a vaccination campaign against polio in the south, where four new cases have been discovered since 2002. The latest was reported in Zinder province in March. The vaccination drive began last Sunday and was due to end next Thursday. Barkire Harnounahe, the government official directing the campaign said health personnel going from door to door were administering two drops each to children under five, including those who had earlier been vaccinated. The vaccination campaign is just targeting the southern provinces of Zinder and Maradi, along the border with Nigeria, Barkire Harnounahe, he told reporters in the capital Niamey on Sunday. Harnounahe said the regional vaccination campaign was intended to fend off any possible spread of the disease from Nigeria, where 149 polio cases were discovered in 2002. Niger will follow this up with a nationwide polio vaccination campaign which will take place at the same time as a similar drive in Nigeria. The two West African states are among five countries in the world which together account for more than 85 percent of all known polio cases. The others are Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan. Polio (Poliomyelitis) is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) one in 200 victims of the disease suffer irreversible paralysis. WHO and UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund, hope to be able to certify that Africa is free of polio in 2005.