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February 19, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Four Million Iraqi Children to Get Polio Shots: UNICEF"

Agence France Presse (www.afp.com/english/home) (02/18/03)

On Sunday, UNICEF will launch a five-day polio immunization campaign targeting 4 million Iraqi children, part of an ongoing effort by the organization to fight vaccine-preventable diseases. Over 14,000 health workers will canvass the countryside to make sure each child is accounted for as the Iraqi health ministry remains proactive and cooperative behind the campaign despite the current distractions.  In 1999, the country suffered a signification outbreak of polio but with help from U.N. agencies, no cases of polio have been recorded in Iraq since January 2000. Statistically, Iraq has one of the world's worst child mortality rates, with one in eight children dying before the age of five.

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