GENEVA / SYRIA POLIO VACCINATION

A polio vaccination campaign in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor governorate is currently in planning, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced Friday in Geneva. Three cases of polio have been recently confirmed in this part of the country. UNTV CH

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:01:33
• Production Date: 16 June 2017
• Asset Language: English
• Corporate Name: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION - WHO
• Subject Topical: HEALTH; POLIO VACCINATION
• Geographic Subject: SYRIA
• MAMS Id: 1911015
• Parent Id: 1911015
• Alternate Title: unifeed170616c

Description

STORY: GENEVA/ SYRIA POLIO VACCINATION
TRT: 1:33
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 16 JUNE 2017 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Shotlist

1. Exterior, Palais des Nations
2. Wide shot, press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Fadela Chaib, Spokesperson, World Health Organisation (WHO):
“The outbreak response is still being planned, but we do not have any specifics in terms of timing, of a vaccination campaign in Deir ez-Zor, but we will in a definite way do a vaccination campaign in Deir ez-Zor governorate, the place where we have got this circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2.”
4. Close up, journalist
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Fadela Chaib, Spokesperson, World Health Organisation (WHO):
“Although access for vaccination is compromised due to the prevailing insecurity in Deir ez-Zor, we were fortunate enough in the last years to be able to conduct polio vaccination in this very challenging place. For example in the beginning of 2016 we did several vaccination campaigns, most recently two campaigns have been conducted in March and in April this year. So we will definitely be doing a vaccination campaign in Deir ez-Zor governorate. The details and the logistics are being planned and we will let you know when it is starting and how many children will be vaccinated.”
5. Various shots, presser

Storyline

A polio vaccination campaign in Syria’s Deir ez-Zor governorate is currently in planning, the World Health Organisation (WHO) announced today (16 Jun) in Geneva. Three cases of polio have been recently confirmed in this part of the country.

Fadela Chaib, WHO’s spokesperson, told reporters “the outbreak response is still being planned, but we do not have any specifics in terms of timing, of a vaccination campaign in Deir ez-Zor, but we will in a definite way do a vaccination campaign in Deir ez-Zor governorate, the place where we have got this circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2.”

Prior to the current outbreak of vaccine-derived polio, Syria’s last confirmed polio case (due to an imported wild poliovirus) was in 1999. Syria remained polio-free until October 2013, when wild poliovirus was confirmed in Deir ez-Zor and Aleppo.

WHO’s spokesperson said, “Although access for vaccination is compromised due to the prevailing insecurity in Deir ez-Zor, we were fortunate enough in the last years to be able to conduct polio vaccination in this very challenging place.” She added, “For example in the beginning of 2016 we did several vaccination campaign, most recently two campaigns have been conducted in March and in April this year. So we will definitely be doing a vaccination campaign in Deir ez-Zor governorate. The details and the logistics are being planned and we will let you know when it is starting and how many children will be vaccinated.”

WHO receives information related to the polio outbreak from the Syrian national poliovirus laboratory which is a WHO-accredited laboratory of the Eastern Mediterranean Region poliovirus laboratories network. The laboratory has continued to function despite the current crisis.