DUSHANBE. May 31. “Asia-Plus” — The third phase of polio immunization campaign which will cover children under 6 years of age and the first stage for teens under 15 years of age will kick off tomorrow, June 1.
The goal of the third phase of the polio immunization, which is scheduled for June 1-5, is to vaccinate all children under 15 years of age, PR Officer of UNICEF Alexander Sadykov told the AP.
According to him, the additional fourth phase, which is scheduled for June 15-19, will increase immunity of children under 15 years of age. “Both monitoring and investigation of polio outbreak in Tajikistan, which are conducted by Tajik Health Ministry in cooperation with WHO, UNICEF and other international partners, indicate that epidemiologic conditions show the need to expand age group of children for polio vaccination up to 15 years of age,” Sadykov has said.
“Even though in the majority of cases polio affects children under 6 years of age, practice shows that children from 6 to 15 years also suffer the risk of being infected with poliomyelitis,” Tajik Health Minister Nusratullo Salimov said as expressing gratitude to UNICEF for vaccine provided to Tajikistan.
