Sudan halts military operations in Darfur for anti-polio campaign

KHARTOUM, Jan 12 (AFP) — Sudan said it had issued an order to halt all military operations in the stricken Darfur region during a nationwide three-day polio vaccination period ending Wednesday.

A child is administered with a polio vaccine. Sudan said it had issued an order to halt all military operations in the stricken Darfur region during a nationwide three-day polio vaccination campaign. (AFP/File). .

Without saying when the order was issued, the police press office said President’s Omar al-Beshir’s representative in Darfur told authorities in the region to render all possible support to the health workers.

The UN special envoy to Sudan, Jan Pronk, had called upon the government and rebels to observe a seven-day halt in military operations including three days for vaccinations and two days before and two other days after the campaign.

The World Health Organization expressed fears earlier this month of a fresh outbreak of polio in Sudan, saying 105 cases have already been reported in various parts of the country.

The organization’s advisor on vaccination, Salaheddine al-Haithami, said 40 cases were reported in the capital Khartoum and a further 21 in Port Sudan on the Red Sea coast.

Government forces have been locked in battle with ethnic minority rebels fighting for greater economic and political autonomy from Khartoum since February 2003 in a war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

More than 1.6 million people have been displaced as a result of the conflict.

Sudan was on the verge of being declared a polio-free country as no cases were reported between 2001 and 2004, but Haithami said that changed after a case was reported in May last year.

Health officials believe the disease was brought by west African pilgrims, mostly Nigerians, travelling to the Saudi holy cities of Mecca and Medina through Darfur.