WHO and UNICEF condemn Kano Killings Of Polio workers by Ismamic Militants

 

>The World Health Organisation (WHO)and its sister agency, the United
> Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) last night joined
> the condemnation of the killing of nine health workers in Nigerias Kano
> state on Friday.
> According to the agencies, the killing of the health workers by
> unidentified gunmen is a double tragedy for Nigeria which is desperately
> seeking to eradicate polio and other diseases in the country.
> The international organisations, which said they would continue to support
> the Nigerian government in spite of the harsh conditions of the country,
> said: we join the Nigerian Government in condemning attacks on health
> workers in Kano state.
> These attacks are double tragedy for health workers family, and for
> children robbed of live-saving health interventions.
> The organisations which described the incident as appalling added that the
> attack was unacceptable under any circumstances since the victims were only
> saving the lives of the countrys children.
> They raised fears that the country may begin to lack volunteers as a result
> of the unfavourable circumstances facing it.
> The joint statement by the organisations was signed by WHOs Communications
> Officer, Tarik Jasarevic, and UNICEF spokesperson, Sarah Crowe.
> The nine health workers were shut in separate incidents in Kano state
> according to the police. In one of the incidents, the health workers who
> were on official duty vaccinating children against polio were shot dead by
> gunmen who rode on a motorcycle.
> The second incident happened thirty minutes later at a clinic in Hotoro,
> outside Kano city while the vaccinators prepared to start work. The gunmen
> also got to the clinic on a motorcycle.
> Some Nigerian Muslim leaders have previously opposed polio vaccinations,
> claiming they could cause infertility.
> According to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the incident
> happened barely 24 hours after a controversial Islamic cleric, which was
> not named, spoke out against the polio vaccination campaign, telling the
> people that new cases of polio were caused by contaminated medicine.
> The Global Polio Eradication Initiative had last year listed Nigeria as one
> of the countries with the highest incidents of polio as according to its
> statistics, there were 121 cases of the disease in the country last year,
> compared to 58 in Pakistan and 37 in Afghanistan.
> President Goodluck Jonathan had earlier condemned the attacks describing
> the two incidents as dastardly terrorist attacks.