DUSHANBE, May 19, 2010, Asia-Plus — The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is supporting the Government of Tajikistan to combat the polio outbreak through a grant to the World Health Organization (WHO) for the next phase of the national polio vaccination campaign for children launched this week, press release issued by the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe said.
As of May 17, there were 392 cases of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP), a complication of the poliomyelitis (polio) infection, of which 108 cases were confirmed by the Moscow Polio Institute as polio. Polio mostly affects children under 6 and can result in lifelong paralysis or death. Tajikistan had been certified as polio-free since 2002.
To respond quickly to this outbreak, the Ministry of Health (MoH) is conducting three rounds of an emergency immunization campaign for all children under 6, vaccinating 1.1 million children in Tajikistan. The first round was conducted from May 4 to 8, the second round will be from May 18 to 22, and the third round is planned for June 1-5.
The campaign is the result of international cooperation. Cold chain and 3,960,000 doses of vaccines were provided by the WHO and UNICEF, with financial support from USAID, the British Department for International Development, and other international donors. The MoH, with support from UNICEF, launched a communication campaign on May 4 to encourage families to bring their children for immunizations and report any AFP cases.
The United States Government is an active supporter of this campaign. On May 5, 2010, USAID awarded WHO with a $100,000 grant for an emergency polio immunization campaign. USAID funds will support 1,095 MOH field teams of vaccinators and 23 clinical supervisors to complete the second round of this three-round national campaign, and partially support the third round as well. In a separate grant, USAID has also provided $354,206 to the WHO to support overall immunization campaigns in both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The USAID grant to the WHO to respond to polio outbreak in Tajikistan is one of the many assistance projects the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) support in Tajikistan. Since 1992, the American people through the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe have provided about $900 million in programs that support Tajikistan’s democratic institutions, health care, education, and economic growth.
