JEDDAH, 12 June 2005 — A nationwide campaign to vaccinate children against polio began yesterday in the Kingdom. The first stage of the campaign targets 400,000 children under five and will last for three days.
On behalf of Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, Abdullah Al-Faiz, undersecretary at the governorate, administered the first dose of the vaccine to two children in Jeddah.
The campaign was launched two months ahead of its original date following the discovery of a number of polio cases in some neighboring countries.
Two million doses have been allocated for the campaign in the Western and Southern provinces of the Kingdom. More than 158,000 children will be vaccinated in Asir province in the southwest of the kingdom.
The World Health Organization has declared Saudi Arabia free of polio since 1995.
Dr. Yaqoub Mazrou, deputy mister of health for preventive medicine, told Arab News the dose is given to children below five and is effective in preventing the disease.
Hundreds of Health Ministry teams carrying special identity cards will visit people’s homes over the coming days to vaccinate the children.
Parents may also take their children to health centers. The officials said there are enough doses available to vaccinate all the children targeted in this stage.
