3 giorni di tregua per vaccinare i bambini afghani

["Yukari Saito" <yukaris at tiscalinet.it> (by way of Carlo Gubitosa <c.gubitosa at peacelink.it>)]

Cari amici,

purtroppo, gli italiani partono con le armi ma non bisogna rassegnarci.
Siccome ho molta fretta di inviarvi questo testo, copiato dal sito di The 
Gardian del 2 novembre.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia_china/story.jsp?story=102757

In seguito alla pubblicazione di questo articolo, in Giappone è nata una 
iniziativa
di cittadini che sostiene la richiesta da parte dell'Unicef e del WHO al 
governo
statunitense affinché ci sia una cessata di fuoco - si dice per 3 giorni - 
per consentire
alla assistenza umanitaria di vaccinare i bambini e distribuirgli il cibo.
Negli ultimi 6 anni, i talebani e l'Alleanza del nord hanno sempre 
rispettato questa
tregua per le vaccinazioni. Perciò vogliono che gli Usa facciano altrettanto.
(Ma finora c'è soltanto un silenzio)
Così i giapponesi hanno cominciato a scrivere al capo del governo e alla 
stampa.
Perché anche in Italia non si promuove una cosa del genere?
Aspetto il vostro aiuto!
ciao,
yukari


Bombing jeopardises immunisation programme
War on Terrorism: Relief Effort
By Richard Lloyd Parry in Islamabad and Andrew Buncombe in Washington
02 November 2001
Internal links

US steps up the bombing to clear way for Northern Alliance assault

'At 4am, we heard the first deafening explosions'

Musharraf has betrayed Islam, says bin Laden

Bombing jeopardises immunisation programme

Amnesty calls for commission on Afghan atrocities
The United Nations says tens of thousands of Afghan children could die this 
winter because the
Allies have ignored a plea for a three-day pause in the bombing to allow a 
programme of
immunisation.

The appeal was made by the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, at the request 
of the World Health
Organisation (WHO) and the UN Children's Fund (Unicef). According to 
sources familiar with the
discussions, the question was raised with President George Bush and the US 
Secretary of State, Colin
Powell. But with only days to go before the immunisations are due to begin, 
and despite the
co-operation of the Taliban, the US has given no indication that there will 
be any suspension of the
bombing.

Aid officials in Pakistan say they face a painful dilemma: whether to 
expose their Afghan volunteer
staff to the risk of travelling across the country during the bombing 
campaign; or whether to
abandon the vaccinations and endanger the lives of almost 50,000 children 
under five years old.

"There is a physical danger, of course," said Navid Sadozai of the World 
Health Organisation, which
will carry out the vaccination programme with Unicef. "But the cost of not 
carrying on could be much
higher. It would be a global tragedy." All over the world, Unicef and the 
WHO carry out national
immunisation days, in which millions of children are vaccinated against 
mundane diseases which
remain killers in the poorest countries. In war zones, the organisations 
habitually make an appeal
for "days of tranquility", when warring parties observe a ceasefire to 
allow the vaccinations to go
ahead.

For the past six years, the Taliban and the opposition Northern Alliance 
have silenced their guns
during immunisation days. This year, the Taliban is understood to have 
given assurances that it will
once again co-operate. But, despite lobbying by Mr Annan, there has been no 
response from
Washington. Yesterday, he reiterated an appeal for the bombing to end "as 
quickly as possible" so
humanitarian efforts could be stepped up.

Dr Sadozai said: "We have still not given up hope. We hope for the best, 
but we are prepared for the
worst."

As well as vaccinating against polio, the WHO and Unicef's 40,000 Afghan 
volunteers are due to dose
children with vitamin A drops, which drastically reduce rates of one of the 
biggest winter killers,
measles. Health workers describe it as one of the few truly successful 
public health programmes in
Afghanistan, but if it does not go ahead as planned next week, the onset of 
the bitter Afghan winter
will make it impossible before the spring.

Every year in Afghanistan, 300,000 children under the age of five die from 
preventable causes such
as malnutrition, exposure and diarrhoea. Unicef estimates that an extra 
100,000 will die this winter
unless adequate food aid reaches them. One-quarter of such deaths are 
caused by measles, but vitamin
A can reduce them by half. In theory, a comprehensive programme could save 
48,000 lives.

The WHO and Unicef have already sent trains of donkeys carrying 
refrigerated boxes with 400,000
vials of the vaccine over the 4,000m Shah Saleem Pass between Pakistan and 
Afghanistan. By yesterday
evening enough vaccine was stockpiled within the country to vaccinate five 
million children. But,
according to aid workers, it will be impossible to reach the neediest areas 
if the bombing
continues.

Since 1996, polio has been almost eradicated in Afghanistan, one of the few 
positive achievements of
the past few years. But as people flee the bombing within Afghanistan and 
across the border, doctors
fear the disease could make a comeback. "With these people getting 
displaced, there's a danger of
redistributing the virus all over again," said Dr Sadozai.