MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Billson
Australia is contributing a further $1.3 million to help eradicate polio in Indonesia, Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Bruce Billson, announced today on Indonesia's National Polio Immunisation Day.
'Following the confirmation of more cases of the crippling disease among children under five, Australia will fund World Health Organisation (WHO) and Indonesian Government efforts to vaccinate 24.5 million children today, on national immunisation day,' Mr Billson said.
'As well as supporting critical door-to-door immunisation, Australian funding will also assist the Indonesian Government and UNICEF raise public awareness about the virus and address misconceptions about immunisation.
'Since the first confirmed case of polio in a decade was detected in West Java in April, there have been a total of 288 confirmed cases in ten of Indonesia's 33 provinces,' Mr Billson said.
'The Australian Government, through our overseas aid agency AusAID, has responded rapidly to a coordinated campaign to halt the spread of the contagious disease and this further assistance brings Australia's contribution to more than $3.4 million this year.
'Our work in fighting polio is part of Australia's commitment to halting the spread of infectious diseases in developing countries and support for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, which aims to completely eradicate the virus,' Mr Billson said.
'Earlier this year the Australian Government provided a total of $2.15 million to the WHO for Indonesian polio immunisation campaigns in May, August and September. This assistance also funded an Australian expert to work with the WHO and the Indonesian Government on door-to-door immunisation.
'Polio poses a serious health risk so I again urge all Australians travelling to Indonesia, especially those with young children, to ensure that their polio immunisations are up to date,' Mr Billson said.
Media inquiries:
Shane Fairlie (Mr Billson's office) 0408 680 442
AusAID Public Affairs 0417 680 590