Families welcome polio program enthusiastically<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Jakartans enthusiastically welcomed the
\ngovernment-sponsored polio immunization program yesterday, as was
\nseen by the sharp increase in demand for additional vaccines from
\na number of polio vaccination centers.<\/p>\n
Thousands of Jakartans accompanied their under-five-year-old
\nchildren to the polio vaccination centers, thereby making it
\nnecessary for several centers to ask for additional doses of
\nvaccine.<\/p>\n
Spokesperson of the city health agency, Mariani Reksoprodjo,
\nsaid several areas in West Jakarta and Cipinang, Campedak and
\nJatinegara subdistricts in East Jakarta asked the agency to send
\nmore vaccine.<\/p>\n
\"We send additional stocks of vaccine as soon as we receive
\nthe requests. This condition is caused by people's eagerness to
\nparticipate in the program,\" Mariani told reporters by phone
\nyesterday.<\/p>\n
The municipal administration established 9,546 polio
\nvaccination centers and deployed about 20,000 volunteers to carry
\nout the city's part in the national program yesterday.<\/p>\n
Deputy Governor for Social Welfare Museno said that, of the
\n9,546 vaccination centers, 7,927 were established in residential
\nareas, 1,120 in preschools and kindergartens, 61 in hospitals and
\ncommunity health centers, 91 in marketplaces and 27 in inter-city
\nbus terminals, the Soekarno-Hatta airport and Tanjung Priok port.<\/p>\n
Registration<\/p>\n
The demand for additional vaccine was also caused by random
\nregistration of children to be immunized. Many parents had no
\nidea of where to go. They just visited the closest centers.<\/p>\n
\"My children are not registered in this center, but I come
\nhere because it is close to my house,\" Lilis, a mother of two,
\nsaid in a vaccination center in Jatinegara.<\/p>\n
The poor registration caused other centers to receive only a
\nlimited number of visitors. At about 11 a.m. a center in the
\nKebon Sirih subdistrict area, Central Jakarta, for example, was
\nvisited by only 40 mothers out of the 100 names registered there.<\/p>\n
Mariani assured Jakartans not to worry about the immunization
\nprogram because her agency has prepared enough vaccine for all
\nchildren in the city under five years old.<\/p>\n
She said about 117,000 bottles of polio vaccine have been
\nprepared and each bottle has enough vaccine for four children.<\/p>\n
According to the city administration's latest data, there are
\nabout 484,516 children under five years old in the city.<\/p>\n
Yesterday's program was designed to eradicate polio in this
\ncountry by the year 2000. The program was held for one day only
\nin Jakarta, while in other cities the program lasts one week.<\/p>\n
Museno opened the program in the city at 8 a.m. in the Klender
\nhousing complex, East Jakarta. (yns)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/families-welcome-polio-program-enthusiastically-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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