BEIRUT: Lebanon has become extremely susceptible to a polio outbreak as a result of the Syrian civil war, Health Minister Wael Abu Faour said Tuesday, during the launch of the fifth national vaccination campaign against polio.
The Health Ministry, in collaboration with UNICEF and the World Health Organization, launched the fifth national immunization campaign against polio Tuesday, in a press conference held at the Lebanese Order of Physician’s headquarters in Beirut.
“We are in the circle of extreme danger,” Abu Faour said. “Parents of all nationalities are invited to respond to this campaign."
According to health minister, “the polio vaccine reached 96 percent national coverage” before the onset of the Syrian civil war. However, Lebanon has become extremely susceptible to a polio outbreak after the disease started spreading in Syria in October 2013 to Iraq in February 2014, the health minister said.
As a result of the challenge imposed by the Syrian crisis, the Health Ministry has implemented four national vaccination campaigns, Abu Faour said.
“And today we launch the fifth national campaign, which coincides with similar vaccination campaigns in all the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region” he added.
The campaign, which was launched today, will consist of two vaccination phases: The first will continue until Oct. 21 and the second will be from Nov. 15 to 21, he said.
People of all nationalities should vaccinate children up to the age of 5 years old, regardless of previous immunization, the health minister stressed.
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