National immunisation campaign begins

Tens of thousands of vaccinators trekked across Somalia on Monday as a three-day national immunisation campaign targeting all children under five years was launched, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said in a statement. UNICEF called for peace in the war-torn country to ensure continued immunisation campaigns. In what it described as a "miraculous victory for children over conflict and devastation", UNICEF said the last case of polio was reported in Somalia in 2002. The country had, as a result, been removed from the list of polio-endemic countries. "If polio can be stopped in Somalia, it can be stopped anywhere," Carol Bellamy, UNICEF's Executive Director said in the statement. "This success is a testament to the will of the Somali people and the effectiveness of strategies in place to stop the virus. If the remaining six endemic countries employ these strategies with equal determination, the world's children will be finally free of this crippling disease." The six countries where polio is still endemic are Nigeria, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Niger and Egypt. According to UNICEF, previous national immunisation days had reached over 90 percent of Somali children, an "impressive figure in a country where the infrastructure remains devastated after years of relentless civil conflict". Bellamy warned that with heightened tension following the killing of two aid workers in Somaliland recently, the immunisation campaign could still be sabotaged by needless violence. She urged Somali leaders "to commit to a peace process designed to protect children's rights and ensure protection measures are effective". Jesper Morch, UNICEF's representative in Somalia, said in the statement: "In the absence of a central government over the last 13 years, the success of these initiatives has been based on the dedication of Somali communities. There is no question of resistance to immunisation in Somalia. Somalis are determined to immunise their children, despite the huge challenges they face." Less than half of Somalia's children were routinely immunised against infectious disease, a significant percentage were malnourished, and 224 in every 1,000 would die before reaching the age of five, UNICEF said.