Polio vaccination campaign underway

Almost a million children are being vaccinated in Ethiopia as part of the global polio eradication campaign which aims to eliminate the crippling disease by 2005. Tens of thousands of children aged between six months and 14 years are being targeted under the joint government and United Nations campaign in remote Somali Region. The weeklong polio, measles and vitamin A vaccination campaign is aimed at strengthening the fight against the food crisis that has hit the country. Children weakened by the drought that has affected 13.2 million people in Ethiopia are particularly susceptible to disease, humanitarian agencies warned. “With some of the highest child mortality rates and lowest immunisation levels in the country, children in Somali region are very vulnerable to diseases like polio and measles,” said Bjorn Ljungqvist, who heads the UN’s Children Fund (UNICEF) in Ethiopia. “It is vital that we use these campaigns to target as many children as possible, and also use this opportunity to strengthen regular immunisation and health services in the region.” Ethiopia is not yet rid of the scourge of polio which needs three years of close surveillance without new cases to be certified polio free. “This campaign is part of an ongoing effort to eradicate polio from the country and the world,” added Angela Benson, acting head of the World Health Organisation. “It is crucial that we persevere until every child can be guaranteed a life safe from this disease.”