City sets up 9,546 polio vaccination centers

JAKARTA (JP): The municipal administration has prepared 9,546 polio vaccination centers and trained about 20,000 volunteers to carry out the city's part in the national polio immunization drive, which begins tomorrow.

Deputy Governor for Social Welfare R.S. Museno said yesterday that careful preparations have been made to ensure the success of the program in the city.

Under the program, all children of below five years old are to be immunized with polio vaccine free of charge. The program, which aims to eradicate polio in Indonesia, will be carried out in two phases: the first tomorrow and the second on Oct. 18.

"As the capital city it is important for Jakarta to make this program successful," Museno said, adding that Jakarta often sets an example for other big Indonesian cities, with any national achievement being measured by the results in Jakarta.

Museno said that, of the 9,546 vaccination centers, 7,927 have been established in residential areas, 1,120 in pre-schools and kindergartens, 61 in hospitals and community health centers, 91 in marketplaces and 27 in inter-city bus terminals, the Soekarno- Hatta airport and Tanjung Priok port.

The city administration has set a target of completing the vaccination program in one day, between 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Museno said that cooperation between the government and community organizations will be important in achieving the target, urging coordination to mobilize the people to bring their children to the immunization centers.

He stressed that only through such cooperation can the vaccination of all babies and young children be ensured.

"According to the latest data at the city administration, there are about 484,516 children under five years of age, far below an estimate of 928,100 prepared by the ministry of health," Museno said.

Commenting on the large gap between the city's statistics and the health ministry's estimate, which is based on the 1990 census, Museno said that the discrepancy may result from the difficulties faced by the municipal administration in counting the children of Jakartans living in luxury real estate complexes.

"Our officers face difficulties in registering them because they are living in housing estates which are encircled by high fences," he said.

"But, registered or not, please come to the centers because it is for the sake of the future of our children," Museno added.(yns)