Even with a new president in place, the political unrest continues, seriously undermining the public health system. Ivory Coast claimed to have been immunizing about half of its children against diseases such as neonatal tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, measles and yellow fever. Even in good times, it doesn't take much to upset vaccination systems in poor countries. They are seldom the highest priority of politicians and government officials because the benefits of immunization are largely invisible. A successful vaccination system means a lack of disease.
Politicians prefer accomplishments voters can see.
Upcountry, in Ivory Coast's capital of Yamoussoukro, immunization coordinator Bekrou Loueba, slender and studious behind his black plastic glasses, understands that well. Across the street from the shabby, one-story concrete compound of the Yamoussoukro Health District clinic is the Presidential Palace, a sprawling complex protected by high walls, a moat and guardian crocodiles. The palace was built for Felix Houphouet-Boigny, father of the liberation and the nation's president for 30 years. At Loueba's clinic, the vehicles he needs to deliver vaccines sit idle. The government has never spent much on transportation for its public health system, he said.