HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 23 (acn) Cuba has applied almost 85 million doses of anti-polio vaccine since February 26 th, 1962 ratifying the island as the first country in Latin America to eradicate the disease.
The vaccine has contributed in protecting the population under 68 years of age, said Dr. Marlen Valcarcel, Director of the National Immunization Program of the Health Ministry.
The drive which has had international repercussion has paved the way for massive vaccination campaigns across the country free of charge for the population under three years of age and later its reactivation, protecting them from polio.
Experts said that the successful health policy that has lasted over half a century avoids contracting the infection which in its worse scenario causes inflammation in the spinal medulla and brain with possible paralysis, muscular atrophy and frequent deformations.
Dr. Valcarcel stressed the importance of the vaccination program which began in January of this year with a new inactive vaccine against virus that causes polio.
The anti-polio inoculation was incorporated to the vaccination project applied to over 80 thousand children that were born from January to September of 2015 in correspondence with the objectives of the Strategic Plan of the World Health Organization, (WHO), for the Eradication of Polio and its Final Phase 2013-2018, he stressed.
The specialist added that the second stage of the National Anti-Polio Vaccination Campaign, will get underway from March 28th to April 3rd across the country where the second dose of the oral vaccine will be distributed to almost half a million children, of them 372 thousand 856 are under three years of age which were administered on February 1st.
The doctor said that these ages include all children that recently received the inactive polio doses as also 119 thousand 93 children 9 years of age will receive the oral reactivation in the current campaign.
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