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UNICEF continues child health campaign amid crisis in Zimbabwe

UNICEF continues child health campaign amid crisis in Zimbabwe

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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has carried out a nationwide child health campaign in Zimbabwe this week, but says it is seriously concerned about an ongoing ban on non-governmental organizations (NGOs) operating in the country’s communities.

UNICEF’s child health days campaign aims to reach Zimbabwe's 2 million under-five children with immunization and vitamin A coverage, the agency’s spokesperson Veronique Taveau told reporters in Geneva today.

During the campaign health workers and volunteers conducted outreach activities to schools, community centres and mobile clinics across the country. Children, even in hard-to-reach areas, were immunized against tuberculosis, measles, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, hepatitis B, haemophilus influenza and polio.

While continuing its work in Zimbabwe, Ms. Taveau said that UNICEF remained seriously concerned about the impact on children of the current ban prohibiting NGOs from operating in communities.

The ban, imposed on 4 June, poses serious problems for the humanitarian community amid galloping inflation and Zimbabwe’s serious food crisis, according to Ms. Taveau.