SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES ASSURANCES FOR HALT TO FIGHTING IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO TO ALLOW IMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGN
Press Release
SG/SM/6921
AFR/136
SECRETARY-GENERAL WELCOMES ASSURANCES FOR HALT TO FIGHTING IN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO TO ALLOW IMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGN
19990309 The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary- General Kofi Annan:The Secretary-General welcomes the assurances by the parties to the conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to stop fighting and allow the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to carry out an urgently needed polio immunization campaign in that Central African country.
The Secretary-General also extends his full support to the initiative, which the heads of the two agencies described in a joint letter to him as the single highest priority for global polio eradication.
In order to immunize some 10 million children under the age of five throughout the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a respite in fighting or a series of truces called "days of tranquillity" will need to be negotiated. The campaign is slated for later this year.
The Secretary-General was heartened by President Laurent Kabila's public commitment to support polio eradication. He is also encouraged by the commitment of the Chairman of the Congolese Rally for Democracy to facilitate the implementation of the so-called National Immunization Days in rebel-held territory. He trusts that both parties and their allies will do all that is necessary to provide the peaceful and secure environment needed for this campaign.
The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello, has been designated to coordinate the support that this vital initiative requires.
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NOTE: Since the start of the WHO-led Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988, National Immunization Days, aimed at vaccinating every child under five years against polio, have been conducted in more than
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120 countries. In 1998 alone, some 450 million children were immunized. The cumulative result of the campaign has been a more than 90 per cent decline in polio worldwide.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of only two countries that have not yet conducted full National Immunization Days (NIDs). Sierra Leone has conducted only partial NIDs, due to the civil conflict there.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ministry of Health is tentatively planning to conduct three rounds of immunization during the period July to September. But only a cessation of conflict would ensure implementation of the plan.
"Days of tranquillity" have allowed immunization to proceed in Afghanistan, Lebanon and El Salvador. In Angola and the Philippines, opposing armies have laid down their arms to enable immunization against polio.
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