UNICEF Watch [to 12 April 2014]
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_67204.html

Joint press release: First mass vaccination campaigns start since polio found in Iraq
WHO-UNICEF
AMMAN, 6 April 2014
Excerpt – Editor’s text bolding
Polio vaccination campaigns commenced in Syria, Iraq and Egypt today, aiming to reach more than 20 million children over the next five days. For Iraq, this will be the first nationwide vaccination campaign since a case of polio was confirmed by the Ministry of Health on 30 March in a six-month-old boy from Rusafa, northern Baghdad. Maria Calivis, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said, “The recent detection of a polio case in Iraq after a 14-year absence is a reminder of the risk currently facing children throughout the region. It is now even more imperative to boost routine immunisations to reach every child multiple times and do whatever we can to vaccinate children we could not reach in previous rounds. That’s the only way we will prevent this outbreak from spreading further.”..
…“Midway into the implementation of this outbreak response plan, we’re reaching the vast majority of children across the Middle East,” said Chris Maher, WHO Manager for Polio Eradication and Emergency Support. “In the second phase of the outbreak response we must work with local partners to reach the hardest-to-reach – those pockets of children who continue to miss out, especially in Syria’s besieged and conflict areas and in remote areas of Iraq. We won’t stop until we reach them.” …Since the outbreak was announced UNICEF has delivered 14 million doses of polio vaccines to Syria.
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_73006.html