Government to intensify immunization for polio<\/p>\n
Fitri Wulandari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In anticipation of the return of the polio virus due to
\nincreased international human traffic, the Indonesian government
\nis planning to launch a national polio immunization program in
\n2002.<\/p>\n
Ministry of Health communicable disease eradication and
\nenvironmental health director general Umar Fahmi Achmadi said
\nthat Indonesia was still prone to polio despite a rigorous polio
\nimmunization campaign.<\/p>\n
\"The WHO (World Health Organization) has yet to declare
\nIndonesia polio-free because they believe that anti-polio
\nimmunization programs in the past have not reached all the
\ntargets,\" Umar said as quoted by Antara on Monday.<\/p>\n
Indonesia conducted national immunization programs in 1995,
\n1996 and 1997, reaching 22 million children aged under five
\nyears.<\/p>\n
Umar said that next years' national immunization campaign was
\nslated for September, with aims to vaccinate 25 million under
\nfives for free.<\/p>\n
Ministry of Health epidemiology, surveillance and diseases
\nsub-directorate head Hariadi Wibisono, responsible for polio
\nsurveillance, said that visitors from countries with a high rate
\nof polio, such as India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, had opened the
\nway for the virus to return.<\/p>\n
\"We have managed to keep the virus out of our country for
\nyears. We are not going to let it return,\" he told The Jakarta
\nPost, adding that it was last detected in the country in 1995.<\/p>\n
The national immunization campaign is part of a WHO campaign
\nto eradicate polio worldwide by 2005. The global campaign, A
\nPolio Free World in 2005, began in 1988.<\/p>\n
Polio is an infectious disease caused by a virus which attacks
\nthe central nervous system controlling motor ability, leading to
\nparalysis. In severe cases, it can lead to death by asphyxiation.<\/p>\n
It can strike people of any age but mainly children under
\nthree. It spreads person-to-person through fecel to mouth
\ncontact. The virus spreads easily in a dirty environment.
\nResearch shows flies can passively transfer the polio virus from
\nfeces to food.<\/p>\n
Polio surveillance is conducted by examining feces of children
\nunder 15 years of age who suffered from sudden acute paralyses.<\/p>\n
Hariadi said that the campaign, PIN Polio, was also to
\nanticipate the prolonged economic crisis which increased the
\nnumber of low-income people.<\/p>\n
\"Their health status drops which eventually will increase the
\nrisk of catching polio,\" he added.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/government-to-intensify-immunization-for-polio-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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