Media Office Reports Increase of Polio Cases in Syria

The Media Office of the Syrian Coalition said it’s going to release a field report tomorrow highlighting the increase of polio cases in Syria, and the reasons for the return of the epidemic after eliminating it entirely in 1998. The report details the areas affected by polio, in addition to the efforts made by the Assistance Coordination Unit (ACU) to contain this disease, and the preparing of competent teams able to vaccinate children in the most vulnerable areas. ACU chief Suhair Atassi said in a statement to the  Media that “the World Health Organization and UNICEF are “restricted and curbed organizations,” adding that this “disease sets off alarms in all the provinces and aggravates the suffering  of the Syrians in a black era that the country is going through.” Furthermore, the report reveals the failure of the Ministry of Health of the Assad regime to provide the necessary vaccines against polio, and that the organizations that have vaccines delayed providing them to ACU and to medical points in the areas that are under the control of the Assad regime. (Source: Syrian Coalition)