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DRC / POLIO CAMPAIGN
STORY: DRC / POLIO CAMPAIGN
TRT: 2.34
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: FRENCH / KIKONGO / NATS
DATELINE: 28-30 OCTOBER 2010, DJUMA, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO
1. Close up, town crier
2. Wide shot, town crier
3. Close up, baby Djuma town
4. Med shot, baby is vaccinated.
5. SOUNDBITE (French) Dr. André Kasogo, Immunization Officer, UNICEF:
“One case is an epidemic, because one case can contaminate two hundred children. And each of those two hundred can contaminate two hundred others. It’s an exponential contamination, it’s an extremely contagious disease.”
6. Various shots, vaccinators at work
7. SOUNDBITE (French) Heritier Misinga, Vaccinator:
“When you’ve been vaccinated we mark on the door of the house the number of children, here two and there remains to be vaccinated zero.”
8. Various shots, boat on river
9. Various shots, church service
10. SOUNDBITE (French) Lucien Lusangu Mawala, Spiritual Church of Black People in Africa:
“This is a church made up of intellectuals and it is a scientific point of view that we should take the vaccine against diseases and epidemics that are present here.”
11. Various, Paul polio victim
12. SOUNDBITE (Kikongo) Paul Kisaway, Polio victim:
“We’ve suffered a lot because our lives have been destroyed. We can’t work or earn money like others. We can’t farm or even do business.”
13. Various shots, launch of polio campaign street party
Having come close to eradication, polio is back in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
A new case in the country’s Bandundu province and nearly thirty in neighboring Kasai have triggered an emergency response.
SOUNDBITE (French) Dr. Andre Kasogo, Vaccination officer:
“One case is an epidemic, because one case can contaminate two hundred children. And each of those two hundred can contaminate two hundred others. It’s an exponential contamination, it’s an extremely contagious disease.”
The race is now on to get the vaccine to the Congolese children however many of the villages are remain isolated and healthcare workers often have walk long distances.
Two drops on the tongue and Therese is protected. Along with her brother it’s another two children to be ticked off towards Congo’s aim of vaccinating 11 million under five.
SOUNDBITE (French) Heritier Misinga, Vaccinator:
“When you’ve been vaccinated we mark on the door the number of children, here two and there remains to be vaccinated zero.”
Traveling by river remains the best way to reach many in the Congo basin. For the vaccine to work it has to be kept cool which is no easy matter in a tropical climate.
And there are still those who reject the vaccine when it’s brought to them.
This church has only recently dropped their longstanding objection to their children being vaccinated.
SOUNDBITE (French) Lucien Lusangu Mawala, Spiritual Church of Black People in Africa:
“This is a church made up of intellectuals and it is a scientific point of view that we should take the vaccine against diseases and epidemics that are present here.”
And in the centre of Djuma town is a reminder of the misery that polio brings.
Paul has been disabled since contracting the virus at the age of five. For him polio’s resurgence has brought back painful memories.
SOUNDBITE (Kikongo) Paul Kisaway, Polio victim:
“We’ve suffered a lot because our lives have been destroyed. We can’t work or earn money like others. We can’t farm or even do business.”
For the vaccination campaign to be effective it has to reach everyone. So in Djuma the launch was marked by a street party in which entertainment was mixed in with public information and public vaccinations. For now Polio is limited to areas that border Angola. The aim of the campaign is to control this outbreak and move once more towards complete eradication.
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