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March 5, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

"Over Four Million Iraqi Children Get Polio Jabs: UNICEF"

Agence France Presse (www.afp.com/english/home) (03/04/03)

Ninety-eight percent of the targeted 4.2 million children in Iraq received a polio immunization during a recent five-day polio immunization campaign, according to UNICEF.  The campaign included about 14,000 Iraqi health workers from 880 health clinics, said UNICEF spokesperson Wivina Belmonte. She noted that although this was the last national campaign in the country, smaller versions will take place later this year and in 2004.  Meanwhile, in preparation for a possible war in Iraq, UNICEF is launching this week a measles vaccination campaign for 500,000 Iraqi children under the age of five, as the disease is the leading killer of children during emergencies, Belmonte said.

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