In an effort to safeguard all children under the age of five and stop the spread of the crippling illness, southern African nations today launched a new campaign. Mozambique began the third round of vaccination against wild poliovirus type 1.
In the upcoming weeks, major immunization efforts in the neighboring countries of Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia will also start their third phase.
The four nations have provided over 36 million doses of vaccination over the course of the first two rounds.
The nation’s first wild poliovirus cases in 30 years occurred in Malawi, which sparked the widespread immunization programs.
In May, Mozambique also discovered a case. In this area in 2022, there have only been two confirmed instances of wild poliovirus.
Because the virus strain is not indigenous, the instances found in the two countries do not change Africa’s designation as being free of wild poliovirus, an accomplishment announced in 2020.
A strain that was circulating in Pakistan’s Sindh Province in 2019 was connected to the strains found in Malawi and Mozambique through laboratory testing.
Zimbabwe will participate in the third and fourth phases of the vaccine program.
Although the two countries do not share a border, the likelihood of a wild polio epidemic is increased by frequent border crossings.
For all children under the age of five to receive all necessary vaccinations, Zimbabwe will undertake two further rounds later this year.
Every attempt is being made to immunize every youngster who is eligible.
The World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for Africa’s (Dr. Modjirom Ndoutabe) Polio Programme Coordinator stated that although there is no cure for this fatal illness, comprehensive vaccination can prevent paralysis.
“We are assisting these five nations in implementing high-quality immunization campaigns that will protect children and eradicate the disease.”
With numerous vaccine sessions, it will be possible to completely immunize every child under the age of 5 against the poliovirus in the at-risk nations.
To achieve this, WHO and partners are collaborating with national authorities to strengthen the planning, delivery, and monitoring of the vaccination drives.
Partners include UNICEF, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, GAVI, the vaccine alliance, and Rotary.
“With this third round of the mass vaccination campaign, Mozambique’s under-five population will be one step closer to being poliovirus-free.
In order to eliminate the threat posed by this crippling illness, WHO and partners are working diligently in support of the government, according to Dr. Severin von Xylander, WHO Representative in Mozambique.
Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) surveillance and environmental surveillance are two critical types of surveillance that WHO and partners have expanded to find potential future polio outbreaks in this region.
Environmental monitoring looks for wastewater samples that may contain evidence of polio, while AFP surveillance looks for polio-related physical symptoms like paralysis and movement problems.
There were only six instances of wild poliovirus reported globally in 2021, an all-time low.
Any case that is imported must be taken seriously, and every child must receive the polio vaccine as soon as possible to stop further spread.
Only Afghanistan and Pakistan now have endemic wild poliovirus type 1.
The poliovirus is extremely contagious and primarily affects children under the age of five. Only vaccinations can prevent the disease, which has the potential to result in permanent paralysis.