Half a million children to be vaccinated against polio

Eritrea launched a national campaign on Monday that aims to vaccinate some 500,000 children across the country against polio, a UN official said. Eritrea has had no confirmed cases of polio since 1997, but cases have been recorded recently in neighbouring Ethiopia and Sudan. "We are trying to make sure that Eritrea maintains the present polio-free status," Christian Balslev-Olesen, a UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative in Eritrea, told IRIN on Monday. "This is a preventive action." The first round of vaccinations was due to run from Monday to Wednesday, while the second round is scheduled for 13-15 May. The campaign is supported by the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF. In December last year, Eritrea’s health ministry organised a polio-immunisation campaign, after the virus was discovered in regions bordering Sudan, immunising more than 85 percent of the targeted 50,000 children. "Representatives of health ministries, UNICEF and WHO from the seven countries bordering Sudan met in Khartoum in January to organise a plan of action following the outbreak in Sudan," said Balslev-Olesen. Poliomyelitis is a highly contagious, incurable viral infection of the nervous system which can cause crippling paralysis or even death within hours of infection, according to WHO. According to UNICEF, a total of 23 countries are due to immunise 100 million children across Africa. Africa accounts for 75 percent of polio cases reported worldwide so far in 2005.