PIN runs smoothly

Phase two of National Immunization Week (PIN) went smoothly in the city on Wednesday as thousands of parents and their children enthusiastically took part in the program.

Parents flocked to community health centers (Puskesmas) or other PIN centers throughout the city with their toddlers to immunize them against polio.

"It's good that we don't have to pay, and I heard that immunization against polio can prevent children from becoming crippled," said a mother who took her son in for the program.

Dr. Soni RT, the head of the community health center in the Grogol Utara subdistrict of Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, said 1,703 toddlers were given the polio vaccine during the first phase of the program, which started on Sept. 12.

The program reached 121 percent of the target set by the health center.

"The children who were given the polio vaccine are not only those whose parents live here, but also guests or anyone who just happens to be in the area," Soni told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

She said that her health center had set up 10 posts in the area to serve people who wanted to take part in the polio immunization program.

"By opening additional posts, we hope to immunize as many children as possible," she added.

The enthusiasm shown by parents in the PIN program was also evident in community health centers in several other subdistricts, such as Pal Merah in West Jakarta, Kampung Bali and Kebon Sirih in Central Jakarta.

Over 759,000 children under the age of five in the capital were given the polio vaccine during the first phase of the program.

Minister of Health Achmad Sujudi said that the national polio immunization program would be ending as Indonesia was declared free of the disease.

The first national movement to eliminate polio in the country was held in 1997. --JP