Nigeria’s strike helps polio vaccine campaign

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A general strike in Nigeria has made it easier to reach and vaccinate 35 million children in the country against polio, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Tuesday.

A four-day campaign to inoculate 80 million children in 23 West and Central African countries began at the weekend.

Nigeria is key to the program’s success, being the source from which the crippling disease has spread to 12 other African states.

“Because of security concerns, a lot of people have stayed home, which has actually facilitated the campaign. Children are at home rather than out and about,” WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer told Reuters.

The general strike over fuel prices in Nigeria went into a second day Tuesday after bringing most cities to a standstill and closing many industries Monday.

Nigeria is home to 597 of the world’s 786 polio cases recorded so far in 2004, against a total of 784 global cases in all of 2003.

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