Syria last October after a 15-year absence and has already paralyzed at least 37 kids—exact numbers are contentious—mostly in the opposition-held north. The current crisis in Syria is one of the most challenging and visible outbreaks the Global Polio Eradication Initiative has tackled since its launch 25 years ago. Tens of thousands of children are trapped in besieged areas, cut off from any humanitarian intervention, including polio drops. The millions of people on the move, both in Syria and the surrounding countries, are off the map and often out of reach of vaccinators. To reach all children under age 5 in Syria and across the region, each country would need thousands of vaccinators to go door to door. And not only would the Syrian government have to commit to vaccinating every child in the country—and that meant children in opposition-held areas as well—it would have to do it six times over the next 6 months. In Jordon’s Zaatari refugee Camp, sometimes called Jordans fourth largest city, was thrown together in the desert in a few months time in 2012. This sprawling, dusty expanse of low-slung tents and prefab housing, 15 kilometers from the Syrian border, has 11 clinics, two schools, and a police station.. Zaatari is now home to at least 100,000 refugees who have fled Syrias brutal civil war, more than half of them children. Some children arrive sick and severely malnourished. Many have witnessed horrors in the course of the war, which has killed an estimated 140,000 people and displaced 8 million or 9 million. Iraqs health ministry said Wednesday it had found its first suspected polio case in 14 years, which could have originated in neighboring Syria where confirmed cases have sparked a region-wide alert. WHO along with its partners UNICEF, Rotary CDC and the Gates Foundation are well aware of the challenges ahead and together we will END POLIO NOW.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 12:24:50 +0000
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