DUSHANBE, May 11, 2010, Asia-Plus — Tajik authorities have not made any decision banning exit of Russian children under the age of six from Tajikistan in connection of a polio outbreak in the country, Davlat Nazriyev, the head of Tajik MFA information, told Asia-Plus today.
“There was no such a decision and such a ban is impossible,” said Nazriyev, “The statement by Gennady Onishchenko, Head of Russia’s Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Protection and Welfare, that Tajik authorities have allegedly banned exit of Russian children under the age of six from the country in connection with the polio outbreak is absolutely absurd.”
According to him, some Russian officials too dramatize the polio situation in Tajikistan. He reminded that according to data of the Ministry of Health (MoH) of May 5, 32 cases of polio have been detected in ten districts of Khatlon province and in the outskirts of Dushanbe. With support from the World Health Organization (WHO), a national polio immunization campaign was launched in the country in early May and it will cover more than 1.1 million children until June 5,” said Nazriyev, “Patients diagnosed with polio are on the way to recovery.”
As it was reported earlier, Gennady Onishchenko told Reporters in Moscow n May 10 Russia is ready to crack down on Tajikistan if Tajik authorities do not review their decision on banning Russian children under the age of six from leaving Tajikistan in connection with a polio outbreak reported in Tajikistan. “I warn the Tajik side that if they do not review their decision, Russia’s response will be adequate and tough and Tajikistan’s economy will feel it,” Onishchenko said.
According to him, his agency on May 8 applied to the Health Ministry of Tajikistan asking to assist with exit of Russian children under the age of six from Tajikistan. “However, the Tajik side has unilaterally decided not to let our children leave the country. We assess this decision as having nothing to do with epidemiology,” the Russian head sanitary physician said.
