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Nigerian state announces resumption of polio immunization

The Governor of the northern Nigerian state of Kano has informed WHO that polio immunization campaigns will resume in July. This announcement follows the Governor's acceptance that the oral polio vaccine is safe and effective. Rumours circulating about the safety of the vaccine had previously led to the suspension of polio immunization in the region late last year. Ten previously polio-free countries across Africa have now been re-infected, most recently in the Sudan. "If the campaigns were not resumed in Kano, a twenty-year, three billion dollar effort involving 20 million people to eradicate polio would be in jeopardy," said WHO Director-General, Dr LEE Jong-wook.