Polio in Indonesia sparks immunization campaign

Children in school uniforms and babies with their parents lined up Monday for polio vaccinations in the Sigli town square on the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, after four children were found infected with the highly contagious disease. The virus was first detected in October in a 7-year-old boy suffering from partial paralysis.

Since then three other cases have been detected, prompting the mass immunization and information drive. The campaign aims to vaccinate some 1.2 million children in the province. The World Health Assembly adopted a resolution for the global eradication of polio in 1988 and since then, wild poliovirus cases have decreased by more than 99%, according to WHO.