United Nations, April 7 (IANS) The UN team in Ethiopia is vaccinating thousands of children and vulnerable people inaccessible during fighting in the Tigray region, a UN spokesman said.
“The aim is to close the immunisation gap resulting from lack of access to services due to the two-year conflict,” said Stephane Dujarric, the Chief Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on Thursday.
The UN resident and humanitarian coordinator, Catherine Sozi, leads the UN team.
The WHO, the UN Children’s Fund and national health authorities kicked off the measles supplemental immunisation campaign last week to last 12 days, Dujarric added.
He said the UN team and partners plan to vaccinate more than 8,30,000 children under the age of five in 76 districts of Tigray, which were, for the most part, inaccessible because of fighting during the two-year rebellion against Addis Ababa rule, Xinhua news agency reported.
The Spokesman added the campaign in Ethiopia’s northernmost region conducts Vitamin A, deworming, and malnutrition screenings for children under five and pregnant and lactating mothers.
“The UN team and authorities conducted a Covid-19 vaccination campaign in the first three months of this year, reaching more than 1.2 million people in the region,” said Dujarric.
–IANS
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