National polio campaign kicks off [Archives:2007/1110/Last Page]
By: Yemen Times Staff
A 3-day nation wide polio immunization campaign kicks off across Yemen from December 15 to 17 to save all children from polio as part of enhanced national efforts to stay on top against any chance of the outbreak of the disease, the UN Children Fund (UNICEF) has said.
The National Immunization Days will be inaugurated by the Deputy President, Ali Mansour Hadi in Sana'a city in the presence of key officials, development partners and media representatives. The nation wide mass vaccination is being led by Ministry of Public Health and Population with the support of UNICEF, Centre of Disease Control (CDC), World Health Program (WHO) and USAID.
2.5 million doses of oral polio vaccine, procured by UNICEF at a cost of 635,500 $ US Dollars arrived in Sana'a last Monday and have been dispatched to the Governorates for in-time delivery to the districts. The 3-day intensive drive will cover all the 353 districts with particular attention high risk districts.
During the countrywide effort, supported by a communication social mobilization component, more than 4 million children, under five years, will be given polio drops during the 3-day National Immunization Days as part of the National Expanded Program of Immunization to save children from polio.
This is the 11th round of door-to-door campaign that aims to reach all children under 5 through home visits. Supplementing routine immunization, the door-to-door visits by vaccinators were started in 2005 after re-emergence of polio in Yemen. The outbreak was at its peak in July 2005 when a total of number of children were infected by the polio virus reached 479 cases. Hodeida and Ibb were among the worst affected Governorates.
The Ministry of Health and Population has finalized all preparations by mobilizing over 2062 vaccinators from health facilities and a total number of 36162 vaccinators will be on the move in mobile teams to cover houses in rural areas and urban areas of the country.
UNICEF Representative in Yemen, Aboudou Karimou Adjibade said “Polio is an incurable disease and it is parents' responsibility to get their children the polio drops as the unvaccinated children can fall prey to this disease that can cause paralysis within hours”. He commended the enthusiastic support extended by the religious leaders, Imams and community leaders for their previous support to the door-to-door campaign and urged them to add their voice and influence for making the new round successful. He particularly, appreciated that leading role that Ministry of Endowment plays in helping to make these campaigns a success. Two drops of vaccine must be given to every child and vaccinators need to ensure that vaccine vials are carefully maintained in cold boxes and only removed and opened when they are needed.
As part of the efforts to accelerate vaccination of children against polio, the Ministry of Health and Population has put together a communication and social mobilization component that includes a mix of interventions such as inter-personal communication and motivational messages through posters, banners, leaflets, jingles and flashes. Motivation material has been distributed by Districts' Health offices, to message across to the largest audience.
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