Nearly 80,000 children under the age of five in Yemen will never know the ruthlessness of polio thanks to a vaccination campaign led by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) in that country. The disease, which mostly affects young children, invades the nervous system, and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This disease had virtually dropped out of existence since 1989 after an aggressive global effort to eradicate it.  But an ongoing outbreak in Yemen since February which affected 179 children had that country’s Ministry of Health asking ADRA for help.

To stop the outbreak, ADRA led a national polio campaign from May 31 to June 2, and one in al-Jawf which ran until June 16. During the first three days of the campaign, ADRA organized 320 health workers and vaccinated 17,229 children in four districts, reaching more than 95 percent of the children in the target areas.

Teams deployed by the Ministry of Public Health will go from house to house to complete the vaccinations.

At the inaugural ceremony Mansour Ahmed Saif, governor of al-Jawf, praised ADRA for their efforts and offered his support for the campaign. He warned attendees that disturbing any projects would only delay health services from reaching various areas.

“We have had great success in the campaign so far,” commented Nagi Khalil, director of ADRA in Yemen. “I appreciate the coordination and the support of the local authorities and the Ministry of Health and the trust they have put in ADRA to conduct this important campaign.”

The U.S. $70,000 project, is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). It is aimed at strengthening basic health services for residents of al-Jawf.