Congo: Polio Vaccinations for 400,000 Children

According to the Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN), a news service of the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the health ministry in the Republic of Congo vaccinated 400,000 children under the age of 5 against polio.

The campaign was carried out to prevent the spread of polio from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), IRIN said.

The Congo Republic’s Director General of Health, Damase Bozongo, said the June vaccination campaign was prompted by reports of new cases of wild poliomyelitis in the DRC in 2006.

The campaign was supported by the World Health Organization and the UN Children’s Fund, IRIN said.