SANAA, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's health authorities on Monday launched a national polio immunization campaign targeting over 5.5 million children.
Supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the campaign was inaugurated simultaneously in the Yemeni capital Sanaa and other provinces.
The three-day vaccination process went from house to house to immunize children under the age of five.
"More than 40,000 vaccinators are participating in the ongoing door to door integrated polio and vitamin A campaign to reach over 5.5 million children under 5 in Yemen," the UNICEF said on Twitter.
"All children in Yemen deserve a healthy life," the UN aid agency added.
Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 after the Houthi rebels overran the capital Sanaa and forced the internationally-recognized government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.
The conflict has brought the impoverished Arab country to the brink of famine and triggered repeated outbreaks of deadly epidemics like cholera.
The United Nations is trying to resume peace talks between the Yemeni warring parties to end the more than four years of war.