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Japanese $3.77 million to fight disease in Sudan

Campaigns Against Polio, Measles and Malaria

While the money will be used for national coverage, special emphasis will be put on the increasing needs of people in the three states of Darfur.

Specifically, the grant will be used to:

• Improve access to primary health care for 700,000 people, including about 140,000 children under the age of 5 years and 80,000 pregnant women in the Darfur region
• Achieve 85% national coverage for routine immunisation and 60% coverage in the Darfur region by December 2004;
• Achieve and sustain interruption of the wild polio virus.
• Provide a quarter million bednets to protect 400,000 under five-year old children and 80,000 pregnant women against malaria.  (including 50,000 children and 10,000 pregnant women in Darfur).
• Ensure adequate access to appropriate case management of malaria. 
• Promote home management care skills for childhood illnesses.
• Reduce measles cases incidence to less than 1 per 100,000 in critical localities.
• Contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality caused by malaria and measles, by 60% and 80% respectively, by end of 2004.

“We are pleased to see that we have been able to maintain our collaboration with our partners and join hands to help the Sudanese children get rid of these child-killer diseases.” said Mr. Masayuki Makiya, the Ambassador of Japan to the Sudan. 

With support from Japan and other partners, Sudan has been implementing massive immunization campaigns in the last few years. While no polio case has been reported since 2001, measles and malaria are still big challenges.

Up to 30% of Sudanese children under five are estimated to be affected by measles, with some 15,000-30,000 deaths each year. Sudan is also malaria-prone, with between one and two fifths of primary health care patients seeking care for the disease.

The handover ceremony will take place on Monday, 2nd August, at the Japanese Embassy in Khartoum, in the presence of senior officials from the Sudanese Ministries of International Co-operation, Health and Humanitarian Affairs, as well as WHO and UNFPA.

The Ministry of Health is supported by a global partnership comprised of UNICEF, WHO, Rotary International and the U.S. Centre for Disease Control.  Japan has been a major contributor to the polio eradication programme in Sudan for several years.

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For more information, please contact:
Gordon Weiss, UNICEF Khartoum, 249- 83- 482325,  Ext. 450