AFRO-NETS> Polio: UNICEF Donates US$ 2.2 Million as Ethiopia nears Eradication

[Leela McCullough <leela@usa.healthnet.org>]

Polio: UNICEF Donates US$ 2.2 Million as Ethiopia nears Eradication
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Source:
http://www.unfoundation.org/unwire/util/display_stories.asp?objid=25283

UNICEF has donated US$ 2.2 million to support Ethiopian efforts to 
eradicate polio by 2005. The agency said yesterday that the country 
is entering the final stretch in its race to wipe the disease out.

The first round of UNICEF's Sub-national Immunization Days campaign 
in Ethiopia for this year was launched Saturday, with a house-to-
house effort targeting 3.4 million children under the age of 5. The 
U.N. agency estimates that US$ 16 million more will be needed for the 
campaign in November and December. 

Ethiopia is one of five countries considered a priority in the global 
campaign to eradicate polio, along with the Democratic Republic of 
the Congo, Angola, Nigeria and Mozambique (Xinhua News Agency, April 
2: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2002-04/03/content_341663.htm ). 

UNICEF is working in cooperation with Ethiopia's Health Ministry, the 
World Health Organization, Rotary International (http://www.rotary.org/), 
the governments of Japan and Norway, the U.S. Agency for Interna-
tional Development (http://www.usaid.gov/) and the U.S. Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/).

"With concerted effort from all partners, Ethiopia can achieve polio-
free status by 2005," said Mahendra Sheth, UNICEF's health and nutri-
tion chief (Ethiopian News Agency, April 3: 
http://www.telecom.net.et/~ena/Newsenglish/86035.0204.htm ).

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