6th anti-polio campaign launched [Archives:2005/894/Local News]

SANA'A- Nov. 12- The 6th anti-polio campaign was launched last Saturday in all Yemeni governorates during 12-14 November. The campaign was organized by the Ministry of Public Health and Population in cooperation with World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, targeting nearly four million children under the age of five.

Over 40,000 health workers and volunteers are taking part in this campaign under the supervision of 9,000 field-experts supplied with 9,000 vehicles and around 22 central trainers to monitor and coordinate the vaccination teams.

Dr. Mohamed Al-Emad, General Manager of the vaccination department at the Ministry of Public Health and Population said there are many experts from the WHO Regional Office and its branches who are assessing the progress of the vaccination campaign.

Yemen is one of the sixteen previously polio-free countries which have reported new cases since 2003, when a polio vaccine boycott in Nigeria was blamed for spreading the epidemic in the region. Polio mainly affects young children and can cause irreversible paralysis.
——
[archive-e:894-v:14-y:2005-d:2005-11-14-p:ln]