Anti-polio campaign successful: Minister
Anti-polio campaign successful: Minister
JAKARTA (JP): More than 90 percent of the 21.8 million
children under five were vaccinated in the first two days of the
mass immunization campaign against polio, and the government has
two actors to thank for this success.
Minister of Health Sujudi yesterday told reporters that all
the rhetorics that the government threw at the public to take
their children along be immunized paled in comparison to the
campaign launched by actors Rano Karno and Mandra in drawing
people to the immunization centers.
"Despite what we have said, the public better understood the
polio drive after Rano Karno and Mandra went on TV," Sujudi said.
He was referring to the television filler on the anti-polio
campaign played by the stars of the highly popular TV comedy
drama, Si Doel Anak Sekolahan.
President Soeharto personally launched the campaign on
Wednesday and by Thursday evening, over 20.5 million children, or
95 percent of the total, had been administered the vaccine.
"If our coverage is more than 80 percent, this means we have
cut the transmission of the disease," Sujudi said, "But we are
safer if we cover 90 percent."
The children will have to return to the immunization center on
Oct. 18 for their second vaccination. The project is costing a
total of Rp 45 billion (US$19 million), with funds coming from
the government's budget, donor agencies and private
contributions.
The immunization campaign is continuing in the regions and
remote areas. Officially the immunization centers are open for
six days.
The government said that it has to achieve a 100 percent ratio
to ensure that polio is eliminated once and for all in Indonesia.
Sujudi acknowledges that the final number of children
vaccinated may not tally with the data of the under-fives that
the government had at the start of the campaign.
This, he said, is because of discrepancy in the data and also
because there have been new births since the data had been
collected. "We also included children of tourists who have just
arrived," he said.
Five provinces -- Central Java, Yogyakarta, Bali, East Java
and East Nusa Tenggara -- exceeded the 100 percent rate while
four provinces reached less than 70 percent. These are West
Kalimantan with 63.2 percent, Central Sulawesi with 68.5 percent,
Irian Jaya with 60.7 percent and East Timor with 47.1 percent.
"The national drive is not final yet, so these figures will
change," said Broto Wasisto, the chairman of the national polio
drive committee.
Yoygakarta, Bali and West Nusa Tenggara managed to complete
the vaccination of all children in one day. (anr)