Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at http://www.immunizationinfo.org.

———————————————————————

May 23, 2003

INTERNATIONAL IMMUNIZATION NEWS

“WHO's Polio Eradication Campaign at Critical Stage”

Kyodo News (home.kyodo.co.jp) (05/23/03); Egashira, Tatsuhiko

Although the World Health Organization (WHO) implemented the “Global Polio Eradication Initiative,” which involves UNICEF and other organizations to eradicate the disease from the world by 2005, worldwide polio cases increased from about 500 in 2001 to 1,900 in 2002.  Most of the cases are concentrated in India, Nigeria, and Pakistan.  Alarmed by the increase, the WHO will focus on the seven countries where polio exists and six countries at high risk of polio infection, and the organization will give out almost 300 million additional doses of the oral polio vaccine.  Challenges that the program must overcome include the distance between houses in some remote areas, the refusal of some local populations to give the vaccine to their children, and a lack of a health infrastructure in some countries.