The representative of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Angola, Antero Pina, highlighted this Friday, in the city of Ondjiva (Cunene), the commitment of the Angolan Executive in promoting actions that aim to guarantee the health of children.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the second phase of the National Polio Vaccination Campaign, running until the 16th of this month, Antero Pina praised the efforts of the Angolan government and partners in immunizing children under five years of age, across the country.
According to him, continuous actions have been crucial to ensure that all children are protected against diseases through vaccination.
“This action is an important step towards consolidating the initiative to eradicate the disease in Angola and, therefore, we note with great satisfaction the determination and leadership demonstrated by the Angolan Executive”, he highlighted.
He recalled that Angola successfully eradicated the circulation of the wild polio virus in 2015, and has been working, since then, to maintain the status of a country free from this disease, carrying out active searches for cases in communities and health units, vaccination campaigns for routine and reinforcing epidemiological surveillance.
The official warned, however, that the risk of importing cases, both wild and vaccine-derived, still exists due to the circulation of viruses in countries in the Southern African region and the low rate of routine immunization.
For this reason, he reaffirmed the commitment of United Nations Agencies to continue supporting Angola in this crucial challenge to immunize all children and eradicate polio from the world, in order to build a more equitable, sustainable and more inclusive society.
UNICEF and the World Health Organization have collaborated with the Ministry of Health, providing technical, financial and logistical support, aimed at protecting children.
Antero Pina called for the involvement of families, partners and local authorities to ensure that all children are vaccinated.
The campaign plans to immunize 5.4 million children under five in the country.