Algiers, July 28, 2013 (SPS) - The immunization coverage of children in Sahrawi refugee camps increased from 43% up to 70% between 2009 and 2012, said Sunday the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
The improvement of social services program in the Sahrawi refugee camps (2012-2014), developed by UNICEF, shows that the coverage of the Saharawi refugee children increased from 43% in late 2009 to 70% at the end of 2012, said the UNICEF representative in Algiers, Thomas Davin, in an interview with the Algerian Press Service (APS).
“This means that at least 70% of children will not die by easily preventable childhood diseases coverage,” he argued.
Concerning the expected results, the UNICEF program plans, by the end of 2015, to provide a vaccination rate of 95%, he added.
Mr. Davin, in this context, noted that his organization acquired in 2012 about 170,000 doses of vaccine to cover all antigens and the entire population of targeted Saharawi children.
“We always spend a stock of doses of vaccine four months before the beginning of the year covered by the vaccination program for Saharawi children, who fight against certain diseases, mainly tuberculosis, measles, polio, whooping cough and tetanus,” said Mr. Davin.
He underlined that for 2013, UNICEF purchased 150,000 doses of vaccine in addition to what was left of the stock of the previous year, adding that a new vaccine order is being for the year 2014.
“By the end of the year, the level of supply and physical support for vaccines will be resolved,” said Mr. Davin, who showed serene about the issues, related to supply components which will be settled by the end of the year.
The UNICEF representative in Algiers reported that a mobilization campaign will be launched in September, through the dissemination of messages through local radio of Saharawi refugees, especially for parents to educate them on the importance of vaccinating their children and respect the dates and times of each vaccine.
“A sub-office of UNICEF has been opened at the Saharawi refugee camps in 2012 to ensure closer monitoring and more rigorous support to its activities in the region,” he said.
Referring to the axes of the UNICEF program (2012-2014) for the Saharawi refugees, Mr. Davin said that “it concerns three components, namely education, maternal and newborn health and the Saharawi youth.”
Regarding the health aspect, he said that the UNICEF program for 30,000 children aged 0 to 5 years, while the youth program is designed for a population of 1,000 young Sahrawis, aged between 14 and 25 years, living in five refugee camps, with 200 youth camps. (SPS)
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