SYDNEY, Aug. 4, 2018 (BSS/XINHUA) – Papua New Guinea authorities have
injected 2 million Papua New Guinean Kina (606,930 U.S. dollars) into a
national polio vaccination program, as part of latest efforts to fight the
major disease following an outbreak in the Oceania country.
“Partners such as the World Health Organization and UNICEF have been very
committed in this endeavor, and the government is appreciative of that and
has put in this amount,” local media quoted Health Secretary Pascoe Kase as
saying on Friday.
Funding for the program continues to be challenging and the latest support
“is invaluable both in terms of the provision of vaccines and in relation to
logistics and technical support”, The National newspaper quoted Kase as
saying.
“This is a complex, long-term and multi-faceted program which is working
very well to achieve its objectives,” he said.
“We will continue to obtain the resources we need to see this campaign
through to the end.”
The minister also called on parents to take their children to the nearest
health facilities to keep their polio vaccinations up to date, with medical
teams preparing for the latest rounds of vaccination.
Papua New Guinea health authorities have been gearing up mass vaccination
against polio, which is known to cause lifetime paralysis in children,
following a recent outbreak that has since been brought under control.