ETHIOPIA AND UN PARTNERS TARGET 14 MILLION CHILDREN IN POLIO CAMPAIGN
ETHIOPIA AND UN PARTNERS TARGET 14 MILLION CHILDREN IN POLIO CAMPAIGN
New York, Jun 11 2007 5:00PM
A United Nations-backed polio immunization drive conducted by the Ethiopian Government is seeking to protect more than 14 million children under five there from the devastating disease.
The four-day, house-to-house campaign, which began on Friday, is being carried out in collaboration with the UN World Health Organization (<"http://www.who.int/mediacentre/en/">WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (<"http://www.unicef.org/">UNICEF).
Mainly affecting children under five, the polio virus invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours, according to WHO. Highly infectious, the virus is passed primarily through person-to-person contact. The polio vaccine, administered multiple times, almost always protects a child for life.
Ethiopia had been polio-free since January 2001, as a result of previous immunization efforts. However, new cases were confirmed in 2005 and 2006, triggering the need for further immunization efforts.
2007-06-11 00:00:00.000
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