Venezuela launches massive vaccination campaign

<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic news Posted: Monday, June 02, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

The South American Vaccination Week kicked off on Sunday and Venezuela aims at vaccinating more than a million and a half children against measles and other viral diseases. 

President Hugo Chavez Frias says the campaign will last till June 8 and costs 7 billion bolivares. Anti-measles shots will be administered to a quarter of a million children between 6-11 months,  500,000 1-year olds,  212,000 2-4 yr. olds, 480,000 from 5-29 years, as well as 28, 500 between 5-14 years living in border areas. 

Vaccinations to counter polio, and hepatitis B and the famous triple will be applied . The President claims that when he took office infant mortality stood at 25 of 1,000 and now it is 17 of every 1,000 ... "it's still too high." 

Metropolitan Mayor Alfredo Peña visited J.M de Los Rios Children's hospital to review the start of the campaign and took the opportunity to complain that the municipal health budget has been reduced 50%. 

• Peña reveals that 60% of patients in Caracas hospitals are from the provinces causing overcrowding and lack of medical supplies.

Referring to 900 million bolivares that the government approved to treat children with heart condition, Pena admits he doesn't know where it is and angrily reports that the donation of hospital equipment from Spain has been diverted to the Finance Ministry for one reason or another.