UNICEF and WHO launch polio vaccination campaign in Yemen

SANAA (Reuters) – Relief agencies have launched a campaign to vaccinate up to 5 million children under the age of five against polio in Yemen, whose health system is paralyzed by the war that has been raging for three years.

The campaign, which began Monday and will last three days, is organized by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health Movement Houthi, which controls most populated centers of the country, where millions of people are facing starvation that makes them more vulnerable to the disease.

"The campaign comes at a very sensitive time," said UNICEF Representative for UNICEF Mirtexel Relano.

"The lack of a fully functioning health care system and the spread of malnutrition have greatly reduced the risk of preventable diseases."

"It is very important that all parties to the conflict allow this essential vaccine to reach all children from north to south and from east to west, without any hindrance," she said.

A coalition led by Saudi Arabia during the Yemeni civil war in 2015 will join the anti-Houthi movement allied with Iran to restore internationally recognized government. The war has caused the most serious humanitarian crisis in the world.

Save the Children said last week about 85,000 children under five were starving.

In 2009, Yemen was declared polio-free. But experts say conflict-affected countries are particularly vulnerable to disease outbreaks because of the disruption of their health systems.

Yemen conducted a vaccination campaign in February 2017 to prevent polio, which is spreading rapidly among children.

In the capital, Sanaa, under the control of the Huthis, nurses began to vaccinate children by mouth in the streets, some crying and trying to escape.

A black pen was marked on the fingers of the children who had been vaccinated with white chalk on the doors of the houses covered by the vaccination campaign.

"They are grateful to these vaccination teams, especially in these difficult circumstances and because the citizens need the real thing, they go home to each house, provide transportation and provide an effort to the citizen," said Abdo Ahmed Ali , a resident of Sanaa.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said last month that Yemen had the worst cholera outbreak in the world, with 10,000 suspected cases each week.

According to her, 16% of cholera cases in Yemen occurred in the coastal town of Hodeidah, where the war is now concentrated and half of the health facilities are unused.

(Edited by علا شوقي للنشرة العربية – edit أمل أبو السعود)

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