The European Commission is funding a project in Albania worth 150,000 ECU to vaccinate children against polio. The aid, channelled via the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), will enable an Italian non-governmental organisation, Associazione Italiana per la Solidarieta tra i Popoli (AISPO), to vaccinate 350,000 children nationwide under the age of five.

The grant will pay for vaccine, a cold chain and a health education campaign. ECHO's partners in the field will work closely with Albania's Ministry of Health. The project is scheduled to last four months and is in line with the World Health Organisation (WHO) plan to eradicate polio in Albania by the year 2,000.