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Ceasefire Declared for Polio Immunization in Afghanistan
The warring factions in Afghanistan have agreed to respect a ceasefire during the second round of National Immunization Days��NIDs��from April 17 to 19, according to a U.N. statement issued here Friday.
The agreement came after the United Nations Children's Fund ��UNICEF��and the World Health Organization��WHO��officially requested both sides to respect the ceasefire and inform frontline commanders to remain committed to the agreement.
The statement said that over 5.4 million Afghan children under five years old were vaccinated against poliomyelitis in 2000, and during the campaign in 2001, 5.7 million Afghan children will be vaccinated.
As many as 27,600 vaccinators and volunteers and about 6,000 supervisors and mobilizers will work in the campaign throughout Afghanistan. UNICEF sends over 6,680,000 doses of polio vaccine to Afghanistan for each round of NIDs.
UNICEF covers the human, operational, vaccine, and social mobilization costs of NIDs in Afghanistan, which in this round will amount to 973,000 U.S. dollars. WHO covers the cost of training volunteers and vaccinators as well as some operational costs. Five rounds of NIDs are planned for 2001, said the statement.
Special arrangements have been made to ensure that children of internally displaced persons ��IDPs��in Afghanistan and children of the families who cross borders during NIDs can be vaccinated against polio.
Afghanistan is one of the countries where the wild polio virus continues to threaten the lives of children. In 2000, 115 children were confirmed to have contracted polio, according to the statement.
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