08 September 2006
Horn of Africa Countries Bolster Drive To Eradicate Polio
Millions of children along Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia borders to be vaccinated
Washington -- Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya simultaneously will vaccinate millions of children under age 5 during September 9-12 in the largest synchronized vaccination campaign in the Horn of Africa.
The effort is part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, spearheaded by national governments, the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF, according to a September 8 WHO press release.
In Ethiopia, the polio vaccination campaign will administer oral polio vaccine to 956,886 children from the Somali and Afar regions that border Somalia and parts of Kenya.
On the Somali side of the border, vaccinators aim to reach 1.7 million children in a nationwide campaign, concentrating on regions bordering Ethiopia and Kenya. In northern Kenya, 240,000 children will be targeted in five districts bordering Somalia and Ethiopia.
The Horn of Africa Technical Advisory Group, which convened in Ethiopia in August, stressed that the polio eradication drive is at a critical stage.
Most countries are working together to deploy people effectively and mobilize authorities, local communities, households and the international donor community to ensure high-quality surveillance and supplemental immunization activities.
Polio-free for nearly three years, Somalia became re-infected in 2005 with a polio virus imported from Yemen. Since then, there have been 215 confirmed cases, and 14 of Somalia's 19 regions are infected.
Since its re-infection in December 2004, Ethiopia has reported 37 polio cases, with four out of 11 regions infected. The high-risk areas remain the cross-border region of Somali, Ethiopia and north/central areas of Somalia. Kenya has been polio-free for the last 22 years.
For the synchronized campaign, vaccinators and social mobilizers are positioned strategically throughout the countries. Teams on the ground will ensure that every child is vaccinated by moving from house to house in cities, towns and villages, and in hard-to-reach areas.
The complex and unstable environments, exacerbated by recurring drought and floods in Somalia and heavy rains in Ethiopia, continue to hamper high-quality polio immunization campaigns. International and national staff have problems accessing conflict zones to supervise staff members working at the district level.
Depending on the availability of funds, three synchronized campaigns are planned in 2006 -- in September, November and December -- in the Horn of Africa.
Globally, according to WHO, there is a funding gap of $50 million for 2006 that must be filled by October to ensure the implementation of planned activities through the end of 2006.
The polio eradication coalition includes governments of countries affected by polio, private-sector foundations, development banks, donor governments, the European Commission, humanitarian and nongovernmental organizations and corporate partners.
Volunteers in developing countries also play a key role; 20 million have participated in mass immunization campaigns.
Additional information about the Global Polio Eradication Initiative is available online.
The full text of the press release is available on the WHO Web site.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
