Campaign launched to vaccinate 3.5 million children

The United Nations, the Ministry of Health and several non-governmental organisations have launched a campaign to immunise 3.5 million Guinean children under the age of 14 against measles. The vaccination campaign, supervised by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), will run from 9-15 November. It also aims to provide 1.6 million doses of Vitamin A supplement to children aged under five. Some US $2.7 million has been made available for the campaign which will be conducted by 69,000 field workers and volunteers using 220 vehicles and 2,000 motorbikes. "This campaign complements that of last year when all 800,000 children in the capital, Conakry were vaccinated," UNICEF said in a statement. "By the middle of November every child in Guinea will have received this vital vaccination and the boost of the Vitamin A capsules for the younger ones." The campaign to vaccinate all children over the age of six months is part of the worldwide drive to eliminate measles. UNICEF said Guinea is a high-risk country for measles, partly because many refugees enter the country in poor health from neighbouring states such as Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Poor health services in Guinea and a lack of vaccines have also helped to spread the disease. However, the number of measles cases in Guinea has dropped sharply over the last two years from 11,294 cases in 2000 to 2,151 cases in 2002 as a result of vaccination campaigns. Measles is a contagious disease that affects young children, especially those under 15. One in five of all children aged under five, who contract the disease, die from it. Measles kills about one million children each year throughout the world. Half of these fatalities occur in West and Central Africa.