HORN OF AFRICA: IRIN Update

SUDAN: ICRC reports vaccination success in Yirol

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has carried out
successful vaccination campaigns against tetanus and yellow fever in Yirol
in the Western Equatoria region of southern Sudan, according to a news
release from the agency. The campaign successfully "reached most
villages", and loudspeaker announcements several hours ahead of time
helped bring people in for the vaccinations, it said. Other programmes
being pursued included special care for pregnant women to ensure that they
give birth in the best possible hygiene conditions and to reduce the
neonatal mortality rate, the ICRC said. A clinic had been built with a
dozen beds at the site of Yirol hospital, which was partially destroyed in
a bombing raid, it added. The Committee's October newsletter said that
humanitarian organisations were struggling to curb high mortality rates in
southern Sudan, and that "conditions remain difficult" despite improvement
through the course of this year.