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Amid ongoing conflict, Iraq completes massive polio campaign for children with support of UNICEF and WHO
Erbil / Amman, 2 September 2014 – Despite the ongoing conflict, violence and displacement across Iraq, a mass polio immunization campaign succeeded in reaching 3.75 out of 4 million children under the age of 5.
The five-day campaign between 10 and 14 August was organized by the Iraqi Ministry of Health with the support of UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO), and was part of the national response to the re-emergence of the poliovirus in Iraq earlier this year. The campaign comes at a time when the number of displaced children continues to increase on a daily basis. Approximately 65 000 internally displaced children were vaccinated in the Kurdish Duhok Governorate alone.
“This campaign represents a real success for children,” said UNICEF Iraq Representative Dr Marzio Babille, “and this is thanks to the incredible commitment of the health teams who worked in very difficult circumstances. We commend each one of them.”
The campaign, which aimed to reach children in 14 Directorates of Health in 12 Iraqi governorates, was made particularly challenging by the internal displacement of nearly 1.8 million people since the beginning of the year, of whom half are estimated to be children. However, health authorities were able to use pre-positioned stocks of vaccine and other supplies to ensure a high number of children were reached.
“In a country going through one emergency after another, a successful polio immunization campaign spreads hope that humanitarian work can achieve its goals,” said Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain, WHO Iraq Representative.
The confirmation of two cases of polio in Iraq in February and April this year ended a 14-year period during which the country remained polio-free. With a relatively high number of unvaccinated children due to difficulties in accessing families and children, especially in slums and conflict zones, experts say Iraq has now become vulnerable to a wider outbreak of the crippling and incurable disease.
For more Information, please contact:
Jeffrey Bates, UNICEF Iraq,
Juliette Touma, on mission to UNICEF Iraq,
Ajyal Al-Sultany, WHO Iraq,
WHO and UNICEF advocate for mass vaccination campaign among internally-displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in Kurdistan region
18 June 2014, Erbil, Iraq - Joint efforts by WHO and UNICEF have resulted in the Kurdistan health authorities agreeing on urgent measures to prevent the spread of polio and other diseases among children displaced during the ongoing crisis in Iraq, which has seen a large influx of displaced people into the Kurdish-controlled north of Iraq.
Stepped up immunization efforts to target host population and IDP camps and border crossings were among steps agreed at a meeting on Tuesday between Dr Rekawt H. Rashid Karim, Kurdistan Region Minister of Health, and UNICEF Representative Dr Marzio Babille.
Around 300 000 people are believed to have entered various parts of the Kurdistan region, especially Duhok and Erbil, over the past few days. Government sources indicate that these displaced people, about half of whom are children, have mostly settled in host communities.
Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain, WHO Representative in Iraq, welcomed the Ministry of Health’s decision to extend vaccination campaigns among host populations in order to reach all children from the IDP population. WHO and UNICEF will jointly support the Kurdish health authorities in these mass campaign efforts.
Iraq recorded its first polio case earlier this year after 14 years of being polio free. With poor routine immunization among people from conflict zones, the Region has now become vulnerable to a bigger outbreak with high numbers of unvaccinated or under-immunized children.
During the meeting in Erbil, Dr Babille urged expanding immunization services against polio beyond the Syrian refugee camps, which was the primary focus of the ongoing campaign that started on 15 June, as well as the positioning of polio immunization teams at transit points where displaced populations cross into or out of the Kurdistan Region. UNICEF is also calling for rapid efforts to protect displaced children against measles and to provide vitamin A. Dr Babille spoke about supporting the Ministry in vaccines and also with technical expertise on social mobilization and external communication.
The Minister emphasized the need to keep the Kurdistan region polio free; a meeting held on 18 June as a follow up, agreed to support polio and measles vaccinations at checkpoints, camps and border crossings. The catch up polio campaign is tentatively planned from 29 June to 3 July targeting more than 700 000 children under the age of 5. This will be the first time in which Iraq has organized a mass public health campaign during the holy month of Ramadan.
For more information please contact:
Dr Jeffrey Bates, Chief of Communication at
Dr Gopinath Durairajan, Polio Team Lead at
Dr Iliana Mourad, Emergency Coordinator at
Ministry of Health of the Kurdistan region of lraq reports critical shortages in medicines, seeks support from the World Health Organization
18 June 2014 – The Ministry of Health of the Kurdistan region of lraq is reporting critical shortages in medicines and is requesting support from the World Health Organization (WHO) in the provision of urgently needed supplies.
Over the past two years, the health system in the Kurdistan region has been severely strained. More than 250 000 Syrian refugees are currently hosted in the region, and the recent violence in the Ninewa, Salaheddin and Diyala provinces has led to the arrival of an additional 300 000 internally-displaced persons. While the health system and health indicators are better in the Kurdistan region than the rest of the country, catering for additional 550 000 people is overburdening the health system and resulting in severe shortages in medicines and medical supplies.
Regular supplies of medicines and vaccines usually received from the central Government of lraq in Baghdad have been halted since the violence began due to insecurity and blocked roads. Consequently, without international support, the Ministry of Health of the Kurdistan region predicts a humanitarian disaster.
Since the crisis began, WHO has provided the directorates of health in Dohuk and Erbil with medical supplies for mobile clinics, as well as interagency emergency health kits for 20 000 people, trauma kits for the treatment of 200 people and diarrhoeal disease kits for the treatment of 200 people.
WHO is working with the Ministry of Health to identify more sustainable ways of ensuring the availability of medicines and vaccines, given expectations that the crisis will continue. With the flow of medicines no longer possible from Baghdad, a warehouse in Solimaneya is being renovated with support from WHO to serve as a storage hub for medicines and vaccines for the entire region.
WHO is exploring the possibility of airlifting medicines and medical supplies from Iraq’s main supply warehouse in Baghdad to Erbil, where they can then be distributed to health authorities in the region. WHO is also working with the Ministry of Health to identify gaps in medicines and supplies which can then be procured from WHO’s main supply hub in Dubai.
“It is likely that violence will be prolonged and the numbers of people injured and displaced will increase. The rising summer temperatures will also increase the risk of communicable disease outbreaks. We need to make sure that the health system is strengthened and is able to respond to the health needs of the affected population, including patients who need life-saving medicines for chronic diseases, such as cancer and diabetes,” said WHO’s Representative in Iraq Dr Syed Jaffar Hussain.
For more information, contact:
Iliana Mourad, Heath Cluster Coordinator: 9647809270773 or
Inas Hamam, WHO Communications Officer: +9647809270776 or
