Polio Eradication Depends On Vaccination

Namibia's minister of Health and Social Services, Ricard Chabi Kamni, on Monday said poliomyelitis eradication will only be possible if children in countries where the disease has never stopped are vaccinated.

This was said at the launching of the first synchronised campaign of vaccination of children under five in Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), held in Enguela, north of Namibia.

According to the Namibian official, besides the vaccination campaign, it is necessary that all nations develop efforts meant to eradicate polio. He said he is confident that in a short time the southern Africa region will be free from the virus.

He also informed that the first and second stages of the current campaign, to happen on June 27-29 and 25-27 July, foresees the vaccination, in his country, of about 300,000 children, as well as the administration of vitamin A.
On her turn, UNICEF's regional director, Dorethea Rozga, said the cases of polio recorded in the provinces of Luanda and Cunene show that much more has to be done.

The ceremony was attended by officials from of the mentioned countries, representatives of the United Nations agencies, as well as the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, Yvone Chaka Chaka.

The last vaccination campaign against polio that simultaneously was carried out in Angola and DRC, happened in 2002.
source:allafrica.com