The United Nations said Monday it was undertaking a mass polio vaccination campaign in Iraq, hoping to reach millions of children as the highly contagious virus crosses from Syria into neighboring countries.
The U.N. is trying to reach 4 million children under 5 throughout Iraq. The campaign was launched after two cases of polio were discovered in Baghdad earlier this year, said Jeffery Bates of the U.N.'s child agency, UNICEF. Bates said the polio cases in Iraq likely crossed over from Syria, where the country's civil war has disrupted its health care system and some children have not been immunized against the highly contagious virus that can paralyze or kill. The U.N. is struggling to reach children in territory held by militants of the Islamic State group, which have seized large swaths of Iraq. The constant flux of tens of thousands of displaced Iraqis moving around the country fleeing the extremists also is a problem.
For the first time ever, the World Health Organization in May declared the spread of polio an international public health emergency that could grow worse and unravel the nearly three-decade effort to eradicate the crippling disease.
IN-DEPTH
- Spreading Polio a Global Health Emergency, WHO Says
- Polio Confirmed in Iraq as Disease Spreads
- Syria polio outbreak a heartbreaking setback in struggle against virus
-The Associated Press
