Iraq vaccinates 2 million children against polio
The Iraqi health authorities affirmed the country is polio-free and mass vaccinations aim to prevent the spread of the disease.
Iraqi health authorities, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, launched Nov. 30 a mass polio vaccination campaign targeting more than 1.9 million children under the age of five.
Iraq had completed 1.7 million vaccinations by Dec. 16, Iraqi Minister of Health Hassan al-Tamimi told Al-Monitor.
Adham Ismail, a WHO representative, said, “We must continue to do everything in our power to protect children from suffering, and from death due to diseases.”
The campaign, however, seems to have stirred an exceptional controversy, after the Global Polio Eradication Initiative recommended April 3 to suspend polio vaccination campaigns in order to help stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. A recent scientific study published in Science magazine reported that the virus that causes COVID-19 is bringing the global campaign to eradicate polio in grave danger.
