Source:
UN News Center-UK1 October 2007 – United Nations agencies are helping over 20,000 Iraqi mobile polio vaccinators in “a titanic effort” to reach as many as 5 million children under the age of five despite the violence raging in the strife-torn country and the added difficulty of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.
“Delivering polio vaccine in Iraq's violent heartland has never been harder,” the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said in its latest update on the campaign. “Vaccinators working in central Iraq, where violence and suspicion are at their most intense, risk their lives to knock on doors and ask to immunize children.
. . .
With more than 1 million Iraqis forced to flee their homes since early 2006, close-knit communities are now filled with strangers, their names and faces unknown to the local health teams. But no matter where these children live – whether in cities or remote rural areas, in conflict zones or temporary camps – vaccinators bring the polio vaccine right to their doorsteps, with help from UNICEF and the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
The campaign has a simple objective: to administer two drops of oral vaccine to every eligible child.
. . .
But concerns are high that as insecurity traps children in “hot zones” or forces them to flee, the most vulnerable will become harder and harder to reach. During this round, vaccinators are will make special efforts to include recently displaced children, many of whom have not been counted on the tally sheets vaccinators usually rely on to keep track of their progress.
“These children are probably the most vulnerable in Iraq today, and we’re determined to ensure they don’t miss out," Dr. Malyavin said. “The goal of the polio campaigns is every child, not just those that are easy to reach.”
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http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24091&Cr=iraq&Cr1=
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