Polio Re-emerges in African Countries: WHO

Polio has re-emerged in several African countries where it had been eradicated, the World Health Organisation said Monday at the start of a conference on child immunisation in Zimbabwe.

"Several polio-free countries have suffered setback in polio eradication," WHO Africa regional director Luis Gomes Sambo told the 150 delegates.

Poliomyelitis - About
Polio is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. It results in paralysis and generally affects people of all age groups, children being more susceptible

"The number of countries with polio outbreaks following wild poliovirus importations has increased from 13 to 19 in 2009," he said at the conference, which runs through Thursday.

Sambo said the conference aims to find ways to reduce child mortality and to urge governments to increase funding for child vaccines.

"We need increased funding to improve the capacity of governments to budget vaccines," Sambo said.

Polio Vaccinations Begin for 2.6 Million Children in DR Congo
Health authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have begun vaccinating 2.6 million children under five against polio and measles in three provinces, the health minister said

Angola, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria are among the countries that have seen an increase in polio, due mainly to a lack of immunisations, WHO said.

About 74 percent of Africa's children receive routine vaccinations, but WHO says coverage of at least 85 percent is needed.

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The monthly pulse polio vaccination drive has begun in Mumbai and has already covered 8, 09, 000 children out of the total 13, 10,000 five year old children, in the first day itself.

Source-AFP
SRM

Burundi Launches Polio Vaccination Campaign for 1.5 Million Children
Doctors in Burundi started vaccinating Monday 1.5 million children against wild polio after the first cases for ten years were confirmed in the north west, a medical source told AFP.