DUSHANBE, May 19, 2010, Asia-Plus — The Ministry of Health does not plan to impose quarantine on schools and pre-school institutions in connection with the polio situation in the country.
The Deputy Health Minister also Tajik chief sanitary inspector, Azamjon Mirzoyev, told Asia-Plus today that the situation is under control and medical workers jointly with partner organizations are going to carry out a polio immunization campaign amongst people aged 6 to 25 as well.
“However, we will not yet reassure people because we do not have enough polio vaccine doses to carry out the immunization campaign among this group of the population,” he said. According to him, the ministry has applied to a number of international organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and some others, asking to assist with purchasing vaccine. “However, we have not yet received any specific reply from any of them” the deputy minister noted.
The Tajik chief sanitary inspector stresses that he hopes for assistance of international organization in carrying out the immunization campaign among that group age because among those having contracted the disease there are also people above the age of 20.
He also denied rumors about numerous cases of death from polio in the country as “absolutely unfounded.” Mirzoyev says these rumors are allegedly caused by panic when people attribute deaths from other diseases to polio.
He added that the ministry was not going to organize pay centers for vaccination of all comers.
According to him, some 400 people have been hospitalized in the country on suspicion of having contracted polio, with 83 cases confirmed. People above the age of 20 constitute 3 percent of those having contracted the disease. “There was only one polio death case,” said Mirzoyev, “A baby died from polio.”
