WHOsays RI needs more polio vaccination rounds<\/p>\n
Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post\/Jakarta<\/p>\n
The government and foreign donors have agreed that Indonesia
\nshould hold at least two additional rounds of a nation-wide polio
\nvaccination drive next year in a bid to completely eradicate the
\ncrippling disease in the world's fourth most populous nation.<\/p>\n
"This is not unexpected. Indonesia is a huge country, there
\nare children in pocket areas who may miss the next round of
\nnational immunization. If the government holds another round of
\npolio vaccinations, then we can be sure that we have stopped the
\ntransmission of the virus," World Health Organization (WHO)
\nmedical officer for polio eradication Naveed Sadozai told a press
\nconference held on Friday to report the government's preparations
\nfor the third round of the polio immunization campaign, scheduled
\nfor Nov. 30.<\/p>\n
He suggested that the additional vaccination round should be
\nheld in late January of next year and in late February or March
\nfollowed by another local immunization round, known as mop-ups,
\nfocussing on certain areas with low vaccination rates.<\/p>\n
Naveed expressed optimism about the country's polio
\nvaccination program, as a recent WHO study revealed that the
\nsecond round had slowed the spread of the disease.<\/p>\n
Data from the Ministry of Health indicated that to date, 295
\ncases of the crippling diseases have been found in 10 of the
\nnation's 33 provinces, making it the country with the third
\nlargest incidence of polio after Nigeria and Yemen.<\/p>\n
According to the Ministry of Health, the polio cases became
\nevident in May, when the disease re-emerged here after being
\neradicated a decade ago.<\/p>\n
In the two earlier rounds (in August and September), the
\nnation-wide polio immunization programs reached 97.4 percent of
\nthe targeted 23.6 million children under five.<\/p>\n
The international community is closely watching the country's
\nprogress in eradicating polio amid fears that the disease could
\nspread to neighboring countries if it is not quickly curbed.<\/p>\n
Jane Soepardi, head of the immunization program at the
\nMinistry of Health, is optimistic that the third round would
\nreach more of the targeted children.<\/p>\n
She said that in the third drive, the ministry would add more
\ntransit and mobile teams in nine provinces to make sure that 23.6
\nmillion children under five across the archipelago would be
\nvaccinated.<\/p>\n
"We will involve more soldiers, policemen, clerics, boy
\nscouts, and members of social organizations to persuade people to
\ntake the children to the more than 250,000 immunization posts
\nacross the country," she said.<\/p>\n
The cost of the immunization drive from the first to the third
\nround is estimated to reach around US$39 million, said Jane.<\/p>\n
The government has allocated around $2 million and the
\nremainder is being financed by foreign donors including UNICEF,
\nWHO, American Red Cross, U.S. Agency for International
\nDevelopment, U.S.-based Center for Disease and Control
\nPrevention, Rotary International, as well as the Australian,
\nJapanese, British and Singaporean governments.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/whosays-ri-needs-more-polio-vaccination-rounds-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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