President Saleh launches anti-polio drive

SANA’A, April 11 (Saba)- President Ali Abdullah Saleh launched on Monday the 1st phase of the nationwide campaign against infant polio organized by the ministry of public health. The campaign, scheduled on April 11-13, targets 5,070,000 children below the age of five. As many as 15,000 volunteers are supposed to participate. President Saleh launched the campaign in al-Sabeen Hospital where he was received by Minister of Public Health and Population Mohammed Yahya al-Noami, representative of the WHO, Hashem al-Zein and senior other health officials. Speaking to reporters, President Saleh called on all people to ensure that their children get the necessary vaccine. “It is an opportunity here to remind people of family planning and the importance of preferring better raising, health care and education for one child” to having many children turn tramps as a result of their pressures on their householders. The president recommended that 2-3 children in the family is a better than a larger number of children whose essential needs can’t be covered. The president urged the health ministry to obtain the needed technology for fighting cancer in order to face the growing need for that. Saleh said that cancer cases are increasing due to the increasing use of pesticides in qat farmlands. He accused qat growers of spraying excessive pesticides on qat for accelerated ripening and hence making quicker sales. “This is a crime that must be penalized,” he said. In Hadramout, Vice President Abdu-Rabbo Mansour Hadi and Governor Abdul-Qader Ali Hilal launched the first phase of the drive. Along with these, vaccination centers and roving vaccination workers covering all areas of population concentration. AA/AASABA