UN Group To Battle Against 6
'Easily Avoidable' Childhood Diseases
(GENEVA)—The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday (Feb 20) that its director, Carol Bellamy, will go to Bosnia this week to formally launch the agency's program to vaccinate 155,000 young children against six deadly diseases. The six-month immunization program is being funded with a $2 million grant from the United States, UNICEF said in a statement announcing her first visit to the region."UNICEF attaches great importance to returning Bosnia's children to the high immunization coverage levels which protected them before the war," Bellamy said.
Immunization coverage against the six "easily avoidable" childhood diseases—tuberculosis, measles, diptheria, tetanus, whooping cough and polio—is low in the regions badly affected by the war. This was due parly to a lack of electricity which prevented adequate refrigeration of vaccines.
The level is 73 per cent in Sarajevo but only 38 per cent in Mostar-East and Bihac, dropping to 30 per cent in Gorazde.
Bellamy is due to meet Bosnian Prime Minister Hasan Muratovic on Thursday (Feb 21) and either Croatian President Franjo Tudjman or Prime Minister Mate Granic on Friday (Feb 22). She will also go to Pale to hold talks with Bosnian Serb authorities.
UNICEF, The United Nations Children's Fund
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