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MASSIVE POLIO
IMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGN SUCCEEDING IN CENTRAL AFRICA DESPITE CHALLENGES
Geneva – Tens of thousands of
vaccination teams have fanned across central Africa, going
door-to-door to protect millions of children against polio in the
first-ever coordinated polio immunization campaign in the
conflict-affected region. During several days in July, August and
September, this massive effort will result in the protection of a
targeted 16 million children against polio in Angola, Congo, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon. The
"synchronized" National Immunization Days (NIDs) campaign is
a major step in the global effort to eradicate the crippling disease,
as Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are considered two
of the few remaining bastions of the wild poliovirus.
President Joseph Kabila of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo was joined in Kinshasa by the
Minister of Health and other senior representatives of Congo, Dr Gro
Harlem Brundtland, Director-General of the World Health Organization
(WHO), Dr Ebrahim Samba, WHO’s Regional Director for Africa, Rima
Salah, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa, and Carlo
Ravizza, past President of Rotary International, at a special ceremony
launching the "synchronized" NIDs on 5 of July.
Results from the first round of
synchronized NIDs, carried out between 5 and 9 of July, are
encouraging. Highlights include:
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A total of well over 15 million children
under five immunized including:
- Angola: 3.6 million. This includes children
who had not been accessed before owing to ongoing conflict.
- Congo: 628 698 children vaccinated,
surpassing the target population of 616 700.
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Democratic Republic of the Congo: 11.5 million children vaccinated,
including immunization coverage in all health zones for the first time
(321 health zones). The assistance of MONUC (Mission observateur des
Nations Unies au Congo) made it possible
to fly vaccines into traditionally difficult-to-access areas.
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Gabon: 211 295 children vaccinated,
including many in remote, forested areas.
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Unprecedented cross-border activities - vaccination teams crossed into
neighbouring countries to immunize children who had never been reached
before. There were reports of up to 80% "zero-dose" children
in some of these regions, an indication that carefully planned
cross-border activities do reach children who might otherwise be
missed.
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UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appealed for calm during all three
polio immunization rounds, urging "all leaders in these countries
and all warring parties to respect the National Immunization Days as
"days of tranquillity" and to ensure the safe passage of
health workers and volunteers in their efforts to reach all children
with polio vaccine." (see UN Secretary-General Statement #7880, 6
July 2001).
Vaccinators abducted, problems
fully accessing some conflict-affected areas:
- Despite major efforts by health authorities
and vaccination teams, full coverage was not possible in some
areas in view of ongoing conflict. In the Equateur province of the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, five vaccinators were arrested
and later released. In the same province, a volunteer who was
mobilizing the population for the campaign was killed.
- Lack of security prevented teams of
vaccinators from crossing into Angola at a key border point with
the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Insecurity also hampered
full immunization efforts in the provinces of South Kivu, Maniéma
and Orientale in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in 21
sparsely-populated municipalities in nine provinces of Angola.
The second round of synchronized
NIDs is from 9-13 August. Key points include:
- UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy will
travel to Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to boost
the polio campaign. She will join health workers and volunteers in
cross-border efforts as they reach children in displaced persons
camps and traditionally difficult-to-reach regions. Carol Bellamy
will add her voice to the recent call of the UN Secretary-General
for "days of tranquillity" to allow safe passage of
health workers and volunteers in order to access all children.
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Rotary International Foundation Trustee José Alfredo Pretoni
will travel to Angola to join local Rotary volunteers in
administering the polio vaccine. Since 1996, Angola’s Rotary Club of
32 men and women have led a campaign to solicit corporate jets,
helicopters and vehicles to move the polio vaccine through Angola’s
landmine-infested countryside. Rotary’s non-political status has
enabled this club to help negotiate cease-fires between the government
and UNITA rebels to allow vaccinators into rebel-held areas. During
National Immunization Days, this club also prints and distributes
thousands of posters to mobilize families.
- Vaccination teams will be administering
vitamin A along with the polio vaccine. This life-saving
micronutrient reduces childhood mortality and morbidity by 23%. In
2000, the administration of vitamin A prevented around 240 000
childhood deaths worldwide.
- During the third immunization round from
13-17 September, US National Basketball Association all-star
Dikembe Mutombo will travel to the Democratic Republic of the
Congo to help immunize children in his home country and raise the
project’s visibility.
Full results of the three rounds
of synchronized National Immunization Days will be
available in early October 2001.
The goal of the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative is to fully interrupt transmission of the wild
poliovirus, and certify the world polio-free in 2005. At the beginning
of 2000 polio was circulating in just 20 countries - down from 125 in
1988 when the Initiative was launched. Since that time, the number of
cases worldwide has been reduced by 99%, from an estimated 350 000 in
1988 to 2881 reported in 2000.*
The Global Polio Eradication
Initiative is spearheaded by WHO, Rotary International, the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the United
Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Major donors to these synchronized
NIDs include the Governments of Belgium, Canada, Japan, the
Netherlands, UK and USA, Rotary International, the Rotary Foundation
of Belgium, the United Nations Foundation and vaccine manufacturer
Aventis Pasteur.
* Note: Please see www.polioeradication.org
for weekly updates of polio cases worldwide.
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Media Information:
For more information please contact:
Claudia Drake, WHO +41
22 791 3832, drakec@who.int
Vivian
Fiore, Rotary International +1 847 866 3234, fiorev@rotaryintl.org
Jeri Pickett, CDC +1 404
639 8454, jpickett@cdc.gov
Mohammad Jalloh, UNICEF
+1 212 326 7516, mjalloh@unicef.org
Dr Kandjoura Drame,
Coordinator, Kinshasa, Dr Congo (+1 321) 953 9026, Kandrame@yahoo.fr
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