Anti-polio drive escapes Bajau

KENDARI, Southeast Sulawesi: Last week's nationwide immunization campaign for polio vaccination missed the children of the Bajau tribe because of difficulties in reaching them and also because of some resistance from parents.

However, the province's health office chief, Mohammad Ali, is not giving up and now plans to mobilize his staff and volunteers, to make sure that all the Bajau children get their vaccinations, Antara reported.

The Bajau live mostly on boats, or on the coast and move around frequently, which makes tracking them difficult. This is on top of the fact that their villages are mostly inaccessible by land.

Mohammad said that many Bajau families have also resisted the government's call to have their children vaccinated.

Of the 203,600 children under five years old registered in Southeast Sulawesi, only 92 percent of them were vaccinated during last week's campaign.

All the children will have to have their second polio vaccination next month. (emb)