Indonesia inoculates millions in anti-polio drive

JAKARTA, Apr 12 (Reuters) Indonesia began a fifth round of mass inoculations against polio today, aiming to reach nearly 24 million children in a drive to eradicate the crippling disease.

Over the past year polio, once considered virtually wiped out globally, has infected hundreds in Indonesia, the world's fourth most populous country with 220 million people.

''Today, we begin the fifth round of national polio immunisation days. The number of children participating in immunisation is 23,626,795 from 33 provinces,'' health ministry spokesman Dr. Lily Sulistyowati said.

''We hope this is the last round of polio immunisation because since the fourth round (which began in February)... we haven't found any new cases.'' Residents in the district of Karet Tengsin, a crowded slum in the heart of Jakarta, flocked to immunisation posts bringing their children, most of whom were dressed in school uniforms.

''I am worried if not given the vaccination then the legs of my children will be paralysed,'' said Tuti Agustina, a 30-year-old mother who brought her two infants.

Agustina, who sells fried sausage and vegetable salad outside her house, said she had brought her children to the previous four rounds of immunisations.

Sulistyowati said the programme could take a month to reach all the targeted children in Indonesia's more remote areas. The country's vast archipelago of 17,000 islands stretches some 5,000 km from east to west.

Polio's re-emergence in Indonesia and elsewhere came after Nigeria's northern state of Kano banned immunisation out of fear it could cause sterility or spread HIV/AIDS. Vaccinations resumed after a 10-month ban.

But the virus moved across Africa, crossed the Red Sea into Saudi Arabia and Yemen, and reached Indonesia, infecting previously polio-free countries along the way.

Between February of 2005 and February this year there were more than 300 cases in Indonesia, the health ministry has said.

The World Health Organisation says repeated immunisations are necessary. With four doses of polio vaccinations, a child should be immune, but some children might need more.

In a country as vast as Indonesia, with infrastructure and bureaucratic reporting often hit-and-miss, repeated vaccination efforts also minimise the possibility anyone is skipped.

Indonesian Health Minister Siti Fadillah Supari has said each nationwide vaccination round costs around 11 million dollars.

REUTERS KD SP1356