WHOsays RI needs more polio vaccination rounds

WHOsays RI needs more polio vaccination rounds

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

The government and foreign donors have agreed that Indonesia
should hold at least two additional rounds of a nation-wide polio
vaccination drive next year in a bid to completely eradicate the
crippling disease in the world's fourth most populous nation.

"This is not unexpected. Indonesia is a huge country, there
are children in pocket areas who may miss the next round of
national immunization. If the government holds another round of
polio vaccinations, then we can be sure that we have stopped the
transmission of the virus," World Health Organization (WHO)
medical officer for polio eradication Naveed Sadozai told a press
conference held on Friday to report the government's preparations
for the third round of the polio immunization campaign, scheduled
for Nov. 30.

He suggested that the additional vaccination round should be
held in late January of next year and in late February or March
followed by another local immunization round, known as mop-ups,
focussing on certain areas with low vaccination rates.

Naveed expressed optimism about the country's polio
vaccination program, as a recent WHO study revealed that the
second round had slowed the spread of the disease.

Data from the Ministry of Health indicated that to date, 295
cases of the crippling diseases have been found in 10 of the
nation's 33 provinces, making it the country with the third
largest incidence of polio after Nigeria and Yemen.

According to the Ministry of Health, the polio cases became
evident in May, when the disease re-emerged here after being
eradicated a decade ago.

In the two earlier rounds (in August and September), the
nation-wide polio immunization programs reached 97.4 percent of
the targeted 23.6 million children under five.

The international community is closely watching the country's
progress in eradicating polio amid fears that the disease could
spread to neighboring countries if it is not quickly curbed.

Jane Soepardi, head of the immunization program at the
Ministry of Health, is optimistic that the third round would
reach more of the targeted children.

She said that in the third drive, the ministry would add more
transit and mobile teams in nine provinces to make sure that 23.6
million children under five across the archipelago would be
vaccinated.

"We will involve more soldiers, policemen, clerics, boy
scouts, and members of social organizations to persuade people to
take the children to the more than 250,000 immunization posts
across the country," she said.

The cost of the immunization drive from the first to the third
round is estimated to reach around US$39 million, said Jane.

The government has allocated around $2 million and the
remainder is being financed by foreign donors including UNICEF,
WHO, American Red Cross, U.S. Agency for International
Development, U.S.-based Center for Disease and Control
Prevention, Rotary International, as well as the Australian,
Japanese, British and Singaporean governments.