CÔTE D’IVOIRE CARRIES OUT NATIONWIDE POLIO CAMPAIGN WITH HELP OF UN MISSION

The Government of Côte d'Ivoire is wrapping up a nationwide campaign to immunize children against polio today, carried out with the help of the United Nations mission which provided logistical support to the effort to stamp out the highly infectious and incurable viral disease.

Some 6 million children were targeted in the four-day campaign, which began on 14 August and is part of the National Immunization Days.

The UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI) transported medical teams and equipment in 41 localities in the departments of Odienné and Daloa. UN Police were also mobilized to assist throughout the campaign.

The mission will continue to assist authorities over the next few days as they evaluate the immunization efforts, which were also supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Polio – contracted through contaminated food, water and faeces – was almost eradicated in Côte d'Ivoire until a case was confirmed in December 2008 in Adiaké in the country's east.

The disease attacks the nervous system and mainly affects children under five. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis, usually in the legs, and among those paralyzed, five to 10 per cent die when their respiratory muscles become immobilized.
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UN AGENCIES SEEK FUNDS FOR YELLOW FEVER VACCINE STOCKPILE

UN AGENCIES SEEK FUNDS FOR YELLOW FEVER VACCINE STOCKPILE
New York, May 26 2009 1:00PM
United Nations agencies and their partners are appealing for funds to replenish the global emergency supply of yellow fever vaccine, warning that if stocks run out by next year as expected, the disease could break out in the poorest countries.

Most children and adults in five of the 12 most vulnerable African countries are now protected from contracting yellow fever thanks to recent vaccination campaigns, but without further funding millions of people will still be at risk of the disease, according to a news release issued by the World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/en/">WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Both WHO and <"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF are part of the International Coordinating Group on Yellow Fever Vaccine, which warned that there is no funding to cover vaccination campaigns once the present stockpile is depleted.

"We have to finish the job we started or the good work that has been done will be lost," said Dr. Edward Hoekstra of UNICEF. "If the stockpile of yellow fever vaccine is allowed to run out, countries that have not yet been reached by immunization campaigns will be unfairly burdened with the disease."

The five countries that have completed vaccination campaigns so far are Togo, Mali, Senegal, Burkina Faso and Cameroon. There have been no outbreaks in those countries since the vaccination campaigns were completed.

Dr. Hoekstra said there is a need to further roll out the programme to protect the remaining 150 million children and adults still at risk for the disease in the region.

"If we do not sustain this programme, yellow fever outbreaks will continue to affect populations who can least afford it," said Dr. Fenella Avokey of the WHO African Regional Office.

Yellow fever is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes. The disease is endemic in forest areas and people are at greatest risk at the end of the rainy season. According to WHO, an estimated 206,000 cases and 52,000 deaths occur every year.

The International Coordinating Group also includes Médecins Sans Frontières and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
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LOOTING OF LIFE-SAVING SUPPLIES SEVERELY HAMPERS UNICEF’S EFFORTS IN SOMALIA

LOOTING OF LIFE-SAVING SUPPLIES SEVERELY HAMPERS UNICEF'S EFFORTS IN SOMALIA
New York, May 21 2009 2:00PM
The United Nations Children's Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/index.php">UNICEF) has strongly condemned the looting and destruction of relief supplies in the Somali town of Johar, warning that this will have an enormous impact on efforts to aid the country's women and children.

"Our programmes, including provision of immunization against preventable diseases like measles and polio, operation of feeding centres for acutely malnourished children, implementation of Child Health Days Campaign, as well as provision of safe drinking water will be severely hampered, putting the lives of vulnerable children and their communities at risk," said Christian Balslev- Olesen, UNICEF Representative to Somalia.

According to a <"http://www.unicef.org/media/media_49736.html">news release issued by the agency yesterday, militiamen raided the UNICEF compound in Jowhar town – located 90 kilometres north of Mogadishu – on 17 May, looting supplies and destroying assets and equipments.

Jowhar is the main hub for the provision of services and supplies to the whole of the central and southern regions of Somalia, noted UNICEF.

The agency said that the cold chain (vaccine storage) equipment has been affected, destroying thousands of doses of measles, polio and other vaccines that were meant to prevent serious diseases among Somali children. Also, supplies of food for the prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition among children were also looted.

Among other things, the incident will disrupt the second round of the Child Health Days Campaign aiming to reach over 1.2 million under-five children and 840,000 women with a high-impact life-saving health and nutritional packages.

"These malicious acts of looting and vandalism that pose a serious threat to the lives and welfare of Somali children must stop," said Mr. Balslev-Olesen. "UNICEF urges all parties involved to have children's well-being at heart. Humanitarian operations must not be impeded."

At least 3.2 million people – or 40 per cent of the Horn of Africa nation's population – will continue to need humanitarian assistance and livelihood support through this September, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (<"http://ochaonline.un.org/">OCHA).
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MASSIVE UN POLIO IMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY IN WEST AFRICA

MASSIVE UN POLIO IMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY IN WEST AFRICA
New York, Feb 27 2009 2:00PM

Some 53 million children under the age of five, including every girl and boy in Nigeria, have been targeted by a mass polio immunization campaign across West Africa, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced today.

The door-to-door polio eradication drive is planned to sweep through eight countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Togo, and Nigeria, aiming to reach every child even in the remotest of areas.

The campaign, employing 162,000 trained immunizers, will attempt to stop last year's outbreak which hit northern Nigeria and spread to six countries in West Africa after the wild polio virus had already re-infected Niger in 2007, as well as Chad and Cameroon in Central Africa.

"The highest priority was to reach every child in Nigeria, which was one of the four endemic countries, and in the high-risk areas across the region," said Miranda Eeles, a spokesperson for UNICEF.

The total cost of the campaign is $29 million for the seven countries, with an additional $38 million for Nigeria, including the cost of the vaccine, operational costs, social mobilization and surveillance.

The campaign, which kicked off today and started earlier this month in Ghana, involves the health ministries of all the countries, as well as support from UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Rotary International, among others. It is being organized as part of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Contracted through contaminated food, water and faeces, polio is a highly infectious and incurable viral disease, which mainly affects children under five, attacking the nervous system. One in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis, usually in the legs, and among those paralyzed, five to 10 per cent die when their respiratory muscles become immobilized.
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