NAIROBI, Kenya, May 20- The Ministry of Health will embark on a 5-day house to house Polio vaccination campaign from Saturday targeting children aged below 5 years in 13 high-risk counties.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe called on parents and guardians to ensure that all children under the age of 5 years old are vaccinated.
“I would like to appeal once again to all parents, guardians, caretakers and the public to support the polio vaccination campaign. Kindly ensure that every child under the age of 5 years in your community in the targeted counties is vaccinated during the campaign in order to expedite our journey towards a polio-free Kenya. You are also requested to report any child aged below 15 years who develops sudden weakness of hands or legs or both to the nearest health facility for investigation,” Kagwe said in a speech read by Head of Public Health Dr. Francis Kuria, during a stakeholders meeting at a Nairobi Hotel.
Kagwe further pointed out that the country has done its best to manage the virus but due to porous borders, few cases continue to be detected as neighboring countries are still struggling to fight the virus.
“The porous borders have witnessed high population movements especially of immigrants further increasing the risk of spread of the disease within our borders. The obtaining situation, especially at a time when the world is battling the COVID 19 pandemic, remains a big concern,” said Kagwe
“In February this year, the Ministry of health confirmed 6 cases of polio virus, among them samples picked from sewage material in Garissa and Mombasa counties. These necessitated the current plans to conduct emergency polio campaigns in line with Global polio eradication initiative.”
Countiestargeted include Mandera, Isiolo, Wajir, Garissa, Lamu, Tana River, Kilifi, Mombasa, Kitui, Machakos, Kajiado, Kiambu and Nairobi.
The campaign is targeting over 3.4 million children with second phase of vaccination scheduled for June 19th to 23rd.
The campaign will be launched on Friday in Garissa County.
Head of Disease Surveillance at the Ministry, Dr. Emmanuel Okunga assured parents and guardians that the vaccinators will take all the necessary COVID-19 protocols during the vaccination process.