To eradicate poliomyelitis: Gov’t targets seven million children in nationwide vaccination campaign.

In a press release signed on October 10, Minister Manaouda Malachie announced that the first round of the national campaign will run from October 24 to 27, 2024.

According to reports, Cameroon still faces a few cases of a poliovirus variant even though the country was declared a wild poliovirus-free country in 2020. 

Three cases of vaccine-derived type 2 poliovirus have been identified in the health districts of Ndél lé and Batouri since the beginning of 2024. A year earlier, the country had already recorded 13 cases.

The vaccination campaign is therefore in response to the type 2 variant poliovirus epidemic. The vaccination will take place simultaneously in the countries of the Lake Chad Basin, notably Cameroon, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Chad and Niger.

In Cameroon in particular, two rounds will be organised, and will cover the country’s 202 health districts.

The first round specifically targets 6,721,142 children aged 0-59 months, including refugees, with the largest population in the Far North region, 701,762, followed by the Centre, 1,216,255. The smallest numbers are in the South, 152,306. 

The objective of the Ministry of Public Health, through the Expanded Program on Immunisation, EPI, is to cover at least 95% of health areas. 

In addition, at least 95% of parents will need to be informed about the EPI’s target diseases, with particular emphasis on polio and the interventions offered during the campaigns.

This activity will also be an opportunity to vaccinate or refer all children aged 0 to 5 years, who have missed out on routine immunisation, in order to improve vaccination coverage. 

The campaign will equally provide an opportunity to search for and notify any cases of acute flaccid paralysis and other vaccine-preventable diseases under surveillance in the community.

A second round of the campaign will also take place in the Adamawa, East and Far North Regions, with 3.5 million children targeted. 

The second round of polio immunisation will be coupled with Child Health and Nutrition Action Week, SASNIM for vitamin A supplementation and deworming, birth registration and intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women and children under 5.

According to the Ministry of Public Health, vaccination will be carried out in homes, health facilities, places of worship, markets, railway stations, fields, schools and other gathering places.

Poliomyelitis is a contagious disease caused by the poliovirus, which is transmitted by drinking contaminated water or eating contaminated food. According to specialists, the virus mainly attacks the limbs, weakening and paralysing them forever. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3269 of Thursday October 24, 2024