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Press Release

BUJUMBURA / NAIROBI / GENEVA/NEW YORK, 17 August 2001 - Concerned that continued conflict could hinder a nation-wide polio immunization campaign scheduled for later this month, United Nations officials in Burundi today jointly called on all parties to observe 'Days of Tranquillity' to allow polio vaccinators safe access to over one million children throughout in the country.

The UN Humanitarian Co-ordinator and the heads of the UNICEF and WHO country offices in Burundi called on all parties to ensure safe passage of health workers during the next two rounds of National Immunization Days, scheduled for 20-24 August and 24-28 September. They said fighting in Burundi limits humanitarian access to the most vulnerable populations, resulting in preventable deaths among children. During the course of the 10-day campaign 1,285,882 children between the ages of 0-59 months are to receive the oral polio vaccine while children aged 6-59 months will receive Vitamin A supplementation.

The three UN officials said that 'Days of Tranquillity' had been observed in many other conflict countries. They noted in particular the just-completed immunization campaigns in several central African nations, including neighbouring DRC, that successfully reached more than 15 million children. The UN chiefs said that these measures are the only means for Burundi to obtain polio certification, which is contingent on the eradication of the wild poliovirus in neighbouring countries.

Despite the success of polio interventions between 1997-2000, the risk to polio remains pronounced, as some provinces noted for insecurity witnessed vaccination levels inferior to 80%. The potential for polio transmission from other countries in the region, notably Angola, Ethiopia, Congo and particularly the DRC whose borders lay adjacent to the Burundian provinces with low-level coverage, is a real threat. Following the recommendations of a March 2001 WHO Regional Meeting of EPI directors in Harare, the synchronization of National Vaccination Days was adopted as a regional strategy to prevent further risk and reintroduction of the polio virus in Burundi.

Door-to-door vaccinations in urban areas will be initiated as part of a new strategy designed to secure high coverage rates. Additionally, in order to galvanize the trust of community members for the vaccinators who may hail from different ethnic groups or far-away locales, vaccination teams will be accompanied by community leaders during the neighbourhood circuits.

Some 4,000 volunteers are involved in each round of the campaign. A very broad range of national and international NGOs, religious leaders, teachers, community leaders and others are also involved in mobilizing the public and organizing vaccination centres.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative, launched in 1988, has reduced polio cases by 99 per cent - from an estimated 350,000 cases in 1998 to only 2,881 in 2000. Because there is no cure for polio, the best treatment is prevention. The goal is to certify the world polio-free by the end of 2005.

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is a world-wide campaign led by four key partners: WHO, Rotary International, the US Center for Disease Control, and UNICEF. Last year a record of 550 million children were vaccinated in 82 countries.

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For further information, please contact:

Alfred Ironside, UNICEF Media, New York, tel: (212) 326-7261; e-mail: aironside@unicef.org

Wivina Belmonte, UNICEF Media, Geneva, tel: (41-22) 909-5509;
e-mail: wbelmonte@unicef.org

Madeline Eisner, UNICEF Media, Nairobi, tel: (254-2) 622-214); e-mail: meisner@unicef.org

Bruno Maes, UNICEF Burundi, tel: (257) 226-888; e-mail: bmaes@unicef.org

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* Note: Please see www.polioeradication.org for weekly updates of polio cases worldwide