Anti-polio drive begins in six provinces

A three-day anti-polio immunisation campaign began on Monday in six provinces in the Central African Republic (CAR), a Health Ministry official told IRIN. The director of preventive medicine and disease control at the ministry, Dr Abel Namssenmo, said the immunisation drive was initially scheduled for 23 to 28 February but was postponed due to a delay in funding. Funds from the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Rotary Club as well as vaccines from the UN Children’s Fund enabled the Health Ministry to begin the immunisation. Namssenmo said that the drive would cover the provinces of Ombella Mpoko and Lobaye in the southwest, Ouham and Ouham Pende in the northwest, Kemo and Nana Grebizi in north-central CAR as well as the capital, Bangui. The Health Ministry opted for the immunisation following the confirmation in January of a case of wild polio in Bossembele, a town 157 km northwest of Bangui in Ombella Mpoko province. The polio case was the first in four years. The latest immunisation drive follows another nationwide anti-polio drive in November-December 2003. All the targeted provinces, except Lobaye, were directly affected by the October 2002-March 2003 rebellion that almost annihilated the health sector in the north, preventing children from being immunised for over a year. It was reported that during the last immunisation campaign in the north, some people were still in hiding. Nine other countries in western and central Africa carried out a similar drive between 23-28 February to eradicate polio. These include Nigeria, reported to be the worst-affected nation worldwide.