50th National Anti-polio Vaccination Campaign begins in Cuba today

A girl is immunized in Cuba

Cuban media reports that the national Anti-polio Vaccination Campaign starts today in all of Cuba. Until April 28, and at no cost to their parents, more than half a million children under three years of age who were vaccinated last March will receive another dose (two drops orally), while nine year-old children will receive a re-activation dose.

These vaccination campaigns are conducted by local polyclinics with the support of the Committees for the Defense of the Revolution (CDR) and other grass roots organizations.

Poliomyelitis is a highly contagious viral and infectious disease that affects the central nervous system causing permanent paralysis and even death, mainly in children between five and ten years old.

Before the triumph of the Revolution, Cuba registered an average rate of 300 cases annually, but in 1962, the government of Cuba began massive annual campaigns. To this day more than 79 million doses of this vaccine have been applied; therefore the Cuban population under 62 years of age is fully protected against this disease.