The Government of Sudan announced a 12-day cessation of hostilities in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, beginning on 1 November, to allow for a polio vaccination in the two states.

Sudan was recently declared polio free, but since April 2013, the virus has re-appeared in eastern Africa. There is a risk that the virus may spread into Sudan, especially in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, where no polio vaccination have taken place in areas controlled by the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) since the armed conflict began in 2011.

The World Health Organization and the Unicef, in collaboration with the Sudanese Ministry of Health and the relief wing of the SPLM-N, have put in place plans for a polio vaccination and vitamin A distribution for 154,000 children under-five years of age in SPLM-N controlled areas of South Kordofan and Blue Nile.

In a press conference in Khartoum, Dr Suleiman Abdelrahman of the Sudan’s Humanitarian Aid Commission stated that the polio vaccination campaign, aiming to cover 15,427 children, will kick off on 1 November.

 “The vaccination campaign has nothing to do with politics, it is only a humanitarian work for polio free in Sudan” the senior aid official explained. He said that HAC has “availed vaccines and other requirements in full coordination with the international partners”.

File photo by Cornelia Walther/ Unicef

Related:

SPLM-N ready for talks with Sudan Government for polio campaign to start (29 October 2013)

Sudan’s government accepts polio vaccination in rebel-controlled areas (20 September 2013)