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28th February, 2011 - Millions of Children to be vaccinated against Polio across Sudan

Khartoum - Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by a virus. It invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. The virus enters the body through the mouth and multiplies in the intestine. Initial symptoms are fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck and pain in the limbs.

To fight this disease and to eradicate it from Sudan several round of immunization will take place this year. The first one will take place between 28th February and 3rd March, and will target under five children in every community across Sudan’s northern states.

Approximately six million children will be vaccinated by the Ministry of Health with support from UNICEF and WHO.

More than 40,000 health workers will go from house-to-house giving children under the age of five the polio immunization.

“Let us join hands to eradicate polio virus from Sudan” said the Officer-in-Charge of UNICEF Sudan, Ray Virgilio Torres.

About UNICEF:
UNICEF is on the ground in over 150 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, safe water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments.

For more information, please contact:

- Maha Saad Mehanni, UNICEF Khartoum, mmehanni@unicef.org
(Mobile: 0912299302)

- Suhair Abdel Sayed, UNICEF Khartoum, sabdelsayed@unicef.org
(Mobile; 0912924489)

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