Luanda, 3 December 2010 -- The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Director for Africa, Dr. Luis Gomes Sambo, visited the northern Angolan province of Cabinda and held discussions with the director of health services, Dr. Carlos Zeca, to support and encourage the local authorities who are organizing a second round of polio vaccination from 4 to 6th December, targeting 600,000 children and adults.

Dr. Sambo was himself given a shot of oral polio vaccine by the WHO Representative in Angola, Dr. Rui Gama Vaz, who, in turn, was administered a shot by Dr Sambo.

Cabinda province, bordering the Republic of Congo, was affected by an outbreak of polio first reported in October in the Congolese coastal port city of Pointe Noire.

About 452,000 children under five years old are to be vaccinated in two other provinces, Uige and Zaire, also in northern Angola. Local authorities are being supported in the vaccination drive by WHO and other health partners.

The Regional Director is in Angola as part of the Second Inter-Ministerial Conference on Health and Environment in Africa that was held in Luanda from 23-26th November. The conference hosted by the Government of the Republic of Angola was jointly organized by the World Health Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme.