Authorities
launched a massive
polio vaccination
campaign on Sunday in Iraq, Syria and Egypt
after health officials found a suspected
case of the virus in a young boy near Baghdad. The five-day
campaign aims to vaccinate more than 20 million children, including 5.6 million in
Iraq alone, UNICEF said, with confirmed cases in conflict-hit neighbouring Syria having sparked a region-wide alert. "Polio eradication is a global priority," UNICEF's representative in
Iraq Marzio Babille said in a statement. "I appeal to the people of
Iraq to join hands in ensuring every child under the age of five is vaccinated during the upcoming April
polio campaign, regardless of how many doses they've received previously." Last month, Iraq's health ministry said it found a
case of
polio in a young boy in Bab al-Sham, near Baghdad, the country's first such
case in 14 years.
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