Second anti-polio round starts today
JAKARTA (JP): The government will launch today the second round of the mass polio immunization program, more determined to ensure success by making up for the shortcomings found in the first round last month.
The various immunization posts that have been set up in every village across the country are under strict orders to ensure that not a single child below the age of five years old escapes vaccination.
The second round of the drive will last for one week but most provinces, judging from last month's experience, are expected to complete the task within a day or two.
In all, more than 22.17 million children should be vaccinated.
A 100 percent coverage is vital to eradicate polio from Indonesia once and for all.
In the first round, the result reached 102 percent of the original target. The discrepancy was caused by the fact that there had been children born since the government ran a survey on the number of children under five years old.
The 102 percent rate was no cause for joy. There were children that still eluded the campaign in the first round in several provinces, mostly because they live in isolated and remote areas. There were also reports that some parents, particularly among isolated tribes, refused to send their children to the immunization centers.
East Timor had the lowest success ratio, with 85 percent of the total of registered children immunized, officials said.
The Ministry of Health, which is supervising the campaign, said the government is counting on the help of the people to ensure success.
"The anti-polio drive will not be a success without people's participation, including the Family Welfare Movement (PKK)," Nyoman Kumara Rai, Director General of the Public Health Guidance Education, told reporters yesterday.
The PKK is a grassroots women's organization that has branches in every village. A branch is usually chaired by the village chief's wife. PKK's members are running most of the show at the immunization centers.
Nyoman said that the government has also relocated some of the posts to ensure more effectiveness.
One of the problems in the first round was that many immunization centers ran out of polio vaccines because they underestimated the number of children under five years old.
The immunization campaign will have to be repeated again in 1996 and in 1997, so that Indonesia will be completely free of the polio virus before the turn of the century.
The total cost of the campaign is put at Rp 45 billion ($19.7 million), with 36 percent of the funds provided by the central government's budget, 13 percent by the local administrations' budgets, 17 percent by foreign sponsors, 29 percent by private donations and the rest from public donations.
Foreign sponsors include Unicef and Rotary International. (31)