WHO boss to witness antipolio drive
WHO boss to witness antipolio drive
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Health Sujudi will launch the
second-phase of this year's immunization program next Tuesday in
Denpasar, Bali, to ensure that the targeted 21.8 million children
under-five countrywide will be protected from polio.
The ceremony will be witnessed by World Health Organization
(WHO) Director General Hiroshi Nakajima and WHO regional director
Uton Muchtar Rafei.
The vaccination campaign will also continue at 275,000
immunization posts across the country, which have been
established in every neighborhood, in public health centers,
hospitals, schools, bus terminals, airports, railway stations and
harbors.
After launching the program, Sujudi is scheduled to attend an
international meeting on medical services for natural disasters.
"The polio virus is very much present in our neighborhoods and
can attack children who do not receive the polio vaccine," Sujudi
said on Thursday.
Once children contract the virus, they could be crippled for
life or even die, he said.
Health ministry data show the prevalence of polio has dropped
dramatically in the last few years. In 1993, the number of
reported cases was seven, in 1994 there were ten and in 1995
four.
The ministry has distributed the vaccine to all immunization
posts across the country, even those in remote or difficult-to-
reach regions, such as the provinces of Maluku, Kalimantan and
Irian Jaya.
In a statement, the ministry expressed its gratitude toward
traders, who travel from one island to another and help
distribute the polio vaccine.
During last year's drive, also in September and October, and
the first-phase of this year's program last month, more than 22
million children under the age of five received the vaccine.
The vaccine is produced by the state-owned pharmaceutical
company PT Biofarma, in Bandung, West Java.
During the first-round on Sept. 10, most provinces finished
the vaccination program within a day rather than the scheduled
three days.
The campaign will involve one million people -- recruited
mostly from among Family Welfare Movement members, other social
organizations, the scouts and teachers -- to administer the 60
million vaccine doses.
This year's antipolio drive is costing Rp 52.5 billion
(US$22,3 million), while last year's drive cost Rp 55 billion.
The final campaign will be conducted next year, with the aim
of completely eradicating polio in Indonesia by 2000.
The government is determined to ensure that no baby shall be
born with polio by the year 2000. (ste)