Regional conflicts slowing UNICEF's battle against polio

A medical worker administers an oral polio vaccine to a child in Angola.

July 24, 1999
Web posted at: 1:24 a.m. EDT (0524 GMT)

In this story: Delivering the vaccine not always easy Actress Mia Farrow offers help RELATED STORIES, SITES

From Correspondent Ryn Brahimi

NEW YORK (CNN) -- The latest United Nations Progress of Nations Report says many African countries are still lagging behind in efforts to eradicate polio, even though great strides have been made in battling the disease.

The director of the United Nations Children's Fund, Carol Bellamy, remained hopeful that polio can be eradicated by the end of the year 2000.

The U.N. report said the number of polio cases has decreased globally by 86 percent since 1988, thanks to massive vaccination campaigns.

"Health workers have trekked through deserts; they have waded through waist-high water," said Bellamy. "Vaccines have been transported by camels in southern Sudan, by bicycle and motorbike in India and by boats in Cambodia and Vietnam."

Bellamy said even in Sri Lanka, El Salvador, Somalia and Angola, warring factions have put down their weapons to allow children to be immunized.

The polio vaccine could eradicate the crippling disease, but poverty and debt are draining public health resources in many developing nations.

And civil conflicts in some countries also are threatening the UNICEF campaign.

In Angola, where war has destroyed much of the health infrastructure, about 6,000 cases of polio were confirmed last year. The same year, in India alone, 134 million children were vaccinated in a single day.

"The difficulty that the country faces is that because of insecurity we do not have access to the entire population," said Dr. Ivan Camanor of Luanda Polio Hospital. "There will only be pockets of children who are not protected, and when these children come into contact with the infection, the disease continues to circulate."

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, civil war is slowing efforts to stop polio.

Attempts to broker a peace deal having failed so far in Congo. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appealed to all parties to stop fighting between August 8 and 20, long enough for youngsters to be immunized against polio.

American actress Mia Farrow has lent her support to the immunization campaign. Farrow had the disease as a child but was not crippled by it. But her 10 year-old adopted son was partially paralyzed by polio.

"He came from an orphanage in India to my family about three years ago," Farrow said.

"He had polio and is paraplegic for life," she said. "So I feel compelled to lend my support in this last surge of effort from UNICEF to eliminate polio from the face of the earth."

Farrow said she thinks the disease can be eliminated by the end of next year. "I think it's a realistic goal."