Tshwane to start anti-polio campaign

As part of the national polio immunisation campaign which takes place from 21 - 29 July 2007, Tshwane has set up a programme whereby parents can take their toddlers to local clinics to receive free immunisation drops.

Creches, child care centres and pharmacies will also participate in the campaign.

According to a statement released the Tshwane metro, this campaign is in addition to its routine immunisation programmes and all children under five should take the vaccine irrespective of their current immunisation status.

This should also serve as an extra dose to improve their protection against polio, said the statement.

“It is important that children receive the second-round dose. If a child missed the first round it is still important that the child receive this free dose.”

In May the first round of polio and immunisations took place, with the second round supposed to have taken place in early June. However, the campaign was postponed due to the public service strike.

South Africa has adopted and implemented the strategies which were recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to eradicate measles and polio.

In May, BuaNews reported that Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon called for renewed efforts in the face of three health-related Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) being the eradication of polio to reduce the mortality rate among children under five, wider anti-retroviral therapy and education programmes on maternal health.

He was speaking at a meeting between the 53-member Commonwealth, Non-Governmental Organisations and other partners in Geneva.

African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Alpha Konare has also expressed dissatisfaction towards African countries regarding reaching the health-related MDGs in African countries, at the opening of the 3rd Ordinary Session of the African Union Conference of Health Ministers in April.

Professor Konare said there was still no "positive trend" after new commitments were made in 2006 to put more resources at Africa's disposal to speed up the achievements of the goals.

UN member states agreed to reach these and other MDGs by 2015.

The MDG Assessment Report for 2006 showed that progress was slow in terms of the countries' efforts to meet the target.

Regarding the mortality of children under five years of age, the report showed that 10.5 million children had died in 2005, many from preventable diseases.

Sub-Saharan Africa, with only 20% of the world's young children, accounted for half of the total deaths, a situation that showed a modest improvement, according to the report.

Article published courtesy of BuaNews