THE United Nations Children’s Fund, in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and World Health Organisation, are conducting a nationwide polio vaccination campaign in two phases for children under five years of age.

Dr Ye Hla, a consultant for UNICEF’s Expanded Program on Immunisation, said the National Immunisation Day campaigns would take place from January 10 to 12 and from February 7 to 9, with the aim of “monitoring polio in Myanmar and providing vaccinations in the wake of cyclone Nargis”.

“The vaccination will be provided in all townships throughout the country. We will give polio medicine to 7.4 million children under five years of age during the two campaigns,” he said.

Dr Ye Hla said that providing regular vaccinations was one of the four strategies necessary to make Myanmar completely polio-free. “We must use a variety of strategies to eradicate polio from Myanmar but we are still weak in providing regular vaccinations,” he said.

“As a result, in 2007 wild poliovirus came into Myanmar again from neighbouring Bangladesh and we also detected vaccine-derived poliovirus in four kids. So we planned to conduct a nationwide campaign in 2008. But we could only provide vaccines in some regions for various reasons,” he said.

One unforeseen factor was cyclone Nargis, which devastated parts of Ayeyarwady Division last May. “After the cyclone we were so focused on relief work that some areas in the Ayeyarwady delta might have been neglected as far as polio immunisation. So we are holding this vaccination program all over the country to cover the needs,” Dr Ye Hla said.

Regional and National Immunisation Day campaigns have been held annually since 1996.