Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLDE63J2FL._CH_.2420
Volcanic ash delays West African polio vaccination
Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:08pm BST
* At least 15 million doses stuck in Europe
* Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Togo delay vaccinations
By George Fominyen
DAKAR, April 20 (Reuters) - A vaccination campaign against polio in West Africa will be delayed in some countries because at least 15 million doses are trapped at airports in Germany and France by the ash cloud, a U.N. official said on Tuesday.
The delays have stoked concern that unsynchronised immunisations will allow the virus to spread within the region, Martin Dawes, the regional chief of communications for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) in West and Central Africa said.
"If there are special flights or if the situation eases, we hope these vaccines could be treated as priority to transport," he told Reuters.
Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Togo have postponed by a couple of weeks their participation in the second phase of a campaign to immunise 85 million children under five in 19 countries in West and Central Africa, due to start on April 24...
Volcanic ash delays West African polio vaccination
Tue Apr 20, 2010 8:08pm BST
* At least 15 million doses stuck in Europe
* Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, Togo delay vaccinations
By George Fominyen
DAKAR, April 20 (Reuters) - A vaccination campaign against polio in West Africa will be delayed in some countries because at least 15 million doses are trapped at airports in Germany and France by the ash cloud, a U.N. official said on Tuesday.
The delays have stoked concern that unsynchronised immunisations will allow the virus to spread within the region, Martin Dawes, the regional chief of communications for the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) in West and Central Africa said.
"If there are special flights or if the situation eases, we hope these vaccines could be treated as priority to transport," he told Reuters.
Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone and Togo have postponed by a couple of weeks their participation in the second phase of a campaign to immunise 85 million children under five in 19 countries in West and Central Africa, due to start on April 24...