Actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Mia Farrow has helped launch a UN polio vaccination campaign in Chad. UNICEF is funding this campaign as a part of an international effort to get rid of polio. Great strides have already been made in this global fight. India has gone a year without a single case of polio. This is largely thanks to a vaccination campaign.
Chad, which had once been polio free, has had 132 new cases of polio. Unfortunately, Chad has spread the virus to its neighboring countries, such as the Central African Republic. This vaccination campaign is imperative to both mitigating and resolving the situation.
During her stay in Chad, Ms. Farrow has met with children and women in the region whose people had been displaced by violence in the Darfur region. Moreover, she visited the city of Mao to bring attention to the need to provide assistance to 1.1 million children who are severely malnourished. Ms.Farrow is now visiting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She will be bringing international attention to the reemergence of polio in the region.
This polio campaign is critical in eradicating this debilitating disease. With initiatives like this, polio rates are likely to decrease.
-Akshika Patel
SOURCE: UN News Centre
