Enormous strides have been made in consigning polio to history, but the effects of climate change could bring it roaring back. That alarming prospect was one of several topics covered in the panel discussion at a special New York screening of ‘The Final Inch’, an Academy Award-nominated film about polio in India.
Made by Vermillion Films and Google.org, and directed by Irene Taylor-Brodsky, ‘The Final Inch” documents efforts to stamp out polio in the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar – which are among the few remaining areas where the paralyzing and often fatal childhood disease remains endemic. The documentary was produced with assistance from UNICEF India.
Watch the video on the ‘The Final Inch’ screening.
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World Health Day 2009
This year on World Health Day, 7 April – an annual observance marking the founding of the World Health Organization – WHO, UNICEF and their partners drew attention to the state of health facilities in emergencies. Children and families in the Gaza Strip, for one example, continue to suffer ill effects in the wake of the conflict that ended there in January. The level of humanitarian aid allowed into the territory remains below what is urgently required to meet the health needs of children and families.
International Day for Mine Awareness
On 4 April, the third annual International Day for Mine Awareness was observed worldwide. The world’s first humanitarian mine-action programme began in Afghanistan two decades ago, but the country remains dangerously contaminated. In the first half of 2008 alone, 445 mine incidents were reported. Tragically, many involve children, who mistake the deadly hardware for toys or valuable scrap metal. But with the help of UNICEF-supported interventions, those numbers are dropping.
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