KAMPALA, Dec 24 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Starting January 2022, the government with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) is set to conduct mass polio immunization across the country targeting an estimated 8 million children aged below 5.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Emmanuel Ainebyoona says the national immunization campaign will be conducted house-to-house from the second week of January to ensure that the targeted population is covered.
The national immunization campaign was recommended by the ministry after a polio variant virus, derived from vaccines was discovered in parts of Kampala and neighboring South Sudan.
Dr Hans Lokaale, Moroto district health officer says the poliovirus which mutated, attacks people who are not vaccinated. He encouraged parents to make their children available for vaccination when the ministry rolls out the campaign.
Uganda, according to the Ministry of Health has not registered a wild polio case in Uganda since November 2010. In the 1990s, the country managed to kick out wild polio and on Aug 25, 2020, after four years without a single case of wild polio, the African region became certified free of wild poliovirus.
Paralysis is the most severe symptom associated with polio because it can lead to permanent disability and death. Between 2 and 10 out of 100 people who have paralysis from poliovirus infection die, because the virus affects the muscles that help them breathe.
The effort to eradicate polio internationally is spearheaded by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, a public-private partnership led by national governments with five partners: WHO, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, UNICEF and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
