A national 5-day polio vaccination campaign launched

Damascus, SANA – A new polio vaccination campaign was launched on Sunday by the Ministry of Health targeting all children under five.

Scheduled to run through next Thursday, the campaign is conducted at the health centers and makeshift centers hosting displaced people and through mobile teams.

The vaccination campaign is carried out in cooperation between the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Syrian Arab Red Crescent.

Health Minister Nizar Yazigi visited two health centers at which vaccines were being administered in al-Qadmous area and Banias in Tartous province. He affirmed in statements to reporters that the vaccines are given free of charge and that they have been subject to strict health conditions.

He said all technical and logistic measures have been taken to launch the massive immunization drive, noting that 3 million vaccine doses have been distributed in preparation for it.

4486 health workers, 1560 qualified volunteers, 3891 mobile teams and 864 cars have been employed to carry out the vaccination campaign, according to Yazigi.

He pointed out that the campaign aims to reach around 2.8 million children in the provinces, noting that areas most in need are targeted in the campaign.

The vaccination campaign aims at targeting 298,000 children in Damascus, 328, 000 in Damascus Countryside, 127,000 in Tartous, 170,000 in Lattakia, 301,480 in Aleppo, 307947 in Hama, 200,000 in Homs, 52,200 in Sweida, 230,000 in Hasaka, 15,000 in Deir Ezzor and 54,000 in Quneitra.

With this new one included, the number of vaccination campaigns carried out nationwide by the Health Ministry since 2013 reaches 20. The campaigns were prompted by the detection of polio cases in the country after it had been polio-free since 1995.

The series of campaigns have proved successful as no new polio cases have been reported since early 2014.

English Bulletin