Sierra Leone launches polio vaccination drive

Hundreds of vaccine-carrying health workers trekked to far-off villages and hamlets in Sierra Leone Friday at the start off of a campaign to vaccinate over one million children under the age of five against polio, health ministry officials said. “There is much excitement in the campaign and mothers have committed themselves to bring their kids to vaccination centres around the country,” one of the organisers, Tity Turay, said. She said the four-day first-round “campaign, supported by UNICEF, the WHO, Rotary International and other development partners, will cover all 12 districts in the country and 13 other countries in the sub region. “We are working hard to halt the spread of polio both in Sierra Leone and the sub region and this is achievable,” she said. UN officer Dr Nuhu Matesha told reporters that “polio is one of the viruses that can be eradicated from the face...