Second cycle of polio immunisation in the north

Uganda on Sunday ended two days of polio immunisation that targeted more than a million children in 15 northern districts, officials said. Isha Makumbi, manager of the national immunisation programme said the exercise was intended to support efforts to eliminate polio in Uganda and to prevent the crossover of the disease from Sudan, which recently experienced an outbreak of polio. Officials said the polio immunisation drive reached 90 percent of under-fives in the target districts. The drive was the second phase of a campaign that began in February in the same 15 districts, which share a border with Sudan. Children in northern Uganda are particularly vulnerable due to the disruption in health service delivery caused by the 19-year old armed conflict in the region. Apart from receiving the polio vaccine, the children were immunised against tetanus and measles, and were also de-wormed and given Vitamin A tablets. In 1988, 35.25 million cases of polio were reported worldwide, a figure that dropped to under one million by 1998.