France hampers polio eradication in Syria, stresses health ministry
DAMASCUS,(ST)_Health Ministry has censured the statement released by the French Foreign Ministry on the national vaccination campaign against Polio in Syria, according to the official news agency.
The ministry stressed on Thursday that the French government’s statement is groundless and a blatant intervention in Syria’s internal affairs as well as it distorts human rights and international relations.
“The ill-favored step adopted by the French government can be considered as an obstacle to efforts being exerted by Health Ministry in Syria to eradicate poliomyelitis in cooperation with the relevant UN organizations, especially the World Health Organization and the UNICEF,” the ministry said.
‘Brilliant results’
It noted that the at least 2.177.000 children aged under five were vaccinated against Polio in the first campaign carried out in cooperation with 52 Non-Governmental Organizations plus the Syrian Arab Red Crescent all over the country.
“The results of the first campaign were brilliant in immunizing the children against the polio,” the ministry said, adding the primary result of the second campaign shows that more than 2.000.000 children were vaccinated.
Negative practices
Moreover, the ministry underscored that the French government, in cooperation with Turkey, illegally enters trivalent vaccines to Syria in a violation of the international law.
It made it clear that that the bivalent vaccines, not trivalent ones, have been recommended by the WHO and the UNICEF to rid polio in Syria.
The bivalent vaccines were used in the campaigns launched by the health ministry in Syria.
The ministry called for stopping what it described ‘negative practices’ that breach the agreement arrived at between Health Ministry and the two organizations ( WHO and UNICEF) during the meetings of the 60th session of Health Ministers’ Regional Committee recently held in Oman as regard eradication of Polio in Syria.
It shouldered the French government and the terrorist groups being supported by the French government responsibility for the re-emerge of polio in Syria and failure of efforts to prevent its spread.
‘Money laundering’
“Helping Syrian children can be done through building infrastructure and stop supporting and arming the French terrorists and the others that are perpetrating brutal crimes against the Syrian people,” the ministry said.
It labeled the French practices as ‘money laundering’ that is gained by France from supporters of terrorism in Syria in return for hostile stances to the Syrian people and children.
The ministry vowed to spare no effort to keep Syria polio-free as it was been since 1995 till September 2013.
Pakistani origin
Last year, the WHO declared that poliovirus that has reportedly affected ten children in Der Ezzour province is of Pakistani origin. The virus was brought by the terrorists who have come from Pakistan to kill the Syrian people.
Basma Qaddour