Health Minister: Polio 4th Vaccination Campaign Targeted more than 2,873,000 children
DAMASCUS,(ST)_ Health Minister, Dr. Saad Naif said that the 4th national vaccination campaign against polio targeted more than 2, 873, 000 children all over the country.
In a press statement yesterday, the minister said that the largest number of vaccinated children was in rural Damascus, where 358 511 children were vaccinated, while 308 562 children were vaccinated in Hama and about 278 497 in Damascus city.
The Minister elaborated that the success of the 4th vaccination campaign was a result of reaching larger numbers of children in unsafe areas, where the armed terrorist groups prevent people from going to nearby health centers or mobile teams to vaccinate their children.
He stressed that no new cases of poliomyelitis reported since the launch of vaccination campaigns in December2013, pointing out that efforts are underway to reach all children under the age of five and give them the vaccines prescribed within the national vaccination program in cooperation with international organizations and NGOs.
On what has been debated by the social media on having bird flu infections, the minister absolutely denied this information, noting that the cases recorded during the last period were swine flu H 1N 1
The minister pointed out that swine flu virus is transmitted from the infected to a healthy human by respiratory ways and not through raising poultry or ingested it as food.
Worthy mentioning that the 4th national vaccination campaign against polio was launched on March 2nd through 6th in 1200 health centers, dozens of medical points and mobile teams distributed on all regions, manned by 7080 doctors and nurses and 1884 volunteers.
T. Fateh