SA launches polio vaccinations
2004-06-16 14:45
Johannesburg - South Africa will next month launch a polio immunisation campaign targeting five million children after an outbreak of the crippling disease in neighbouring Botswana, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
Health spokesperson Joanne Collinge said the R23m campaign was part of efforts to have South Africa declared polio-free by next year.
"The case of polio in Botswana underscores the need for a campaign here," Collinge said.
Botswana was polio-free for 13 years but this week ordered an emergency immunisation campaign following a case which was traced to Nigeria, some 2 500km north of the southern African country.
"As a country we are trying to get polio-free status and we hope to get it by next year. We don't want any import cases" said Collinge.
The health department will launch a polio and measles immunisation campaign from July 26-30 at nursery schools, churches, clinics and community organisations, targeting all children aged under five.
"It's been reasonably successful in the past. These mass campaigns pick up the kids that missed their clinic shots in the first 18 months. It works very well that way" Collinge said.
The new outbreak in Botswana was "a real wake-up call for the rest of the world to step up surveillance of suspected cases," UN children fund representative in the country, Gordon Jonathan Lewis, said in a statement.
"This country was polio-free, but the polio virus moves extremely fast - just one case can mean up to 100 000 people being exposed to the crippling disease."