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VIENTIANE, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Half a million doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) will be distributed to at risk groups in Laos as health authorities respond to the dangers posed by the virus.
The virus is responsible for the death of an eight-year-old boy in the province of Borikhamxay earlier this month, the first polio death in the South-East Asian nation since the 1990s.
The announcement was made by Deputy Director of the National Centre for Maternal and Child Health and Manager of the National Expanded Programme of Immunisation, Dr Anonh Xeuatvongsa, and reported by state-run Vientiane Times on Monday.
He said the campaign to be conducted by the nation's Ministry of Health in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) would target children aged 10 and under in Borikhamxay and neighboring provinces of Xieng Khuang and Xaysomboun, where low immunization rates have also been reported.
"Vaccines protect not only individuals but entire communities. That is why vaccines are vital to the public health goal of preventing diseases,"Dr Anonh said.
According to the WHO, just 44 percent of children under 10 years of age in the boy's home district of Bolikhan were deemed to have received the three vaccine doses currently required for full immunization against polio.
The organization has assessed the risk of spread of the virus from Laos to other countries of the region as low, citing relatively limited travel to and from the affected area and impending vaccination activities.
However, the WHO's International Travel and Health publication recommends that all travelers to polio-affected areas be fully vaccinated, with residents and long term visitors in affected areas recommended to receive an additional dose of OPV or inactivated polio vaccine (IPV).
It is hoped that new cases of polio infection can be halted worldwide by 2020, reducing the health, social and economic impact of a disease that can cause permanent paralysis and related disabilities in survivors. Enditem
