The Ugandan Ministry of Well being is about to manage the brand new oral polio vaccine (nOPV2) to eight.7 million kids aged zero to 5 years previous in a nationwide door-to-door marketing campaign from 4 to 10 November 2022, as a part of the World Polio Eradication Initiative supported by the World Well being Group (WHO), the United Nations Youngsters’s Fund (UNICEF), the Middle for Illness Management and Prevention (CDC), Rotary Worldwide and different companions.
This marketing campaign is the second part of the response to the circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus detected in an environmental pattern in Lubigi in July 2021. It was launched by Uganda’s Minister of Well being, the Honourable Dr Jane Ruth Aceng Ocero, in the course of the commemoration of World Polio Day 2022 and the nationwide launch of Uganda’s second OPV2 marketing campaign.
Launching the door-to-door immunization marketing campaign, Dr. Jane Aceng mentioned that immunization is a vital side of well being system strengthening: “The resilience of the well being system additionally is determined by immunization at neighborhood stage. We’re working arduous, with the assist of our companions, to enhance the capability of our well being system.”
Recognising the continued menace posed by inhabitants actions, together with refugees in the course of the Ebola outbreak and COVID-19, “the Ministry of Well being stays dedicated to taking all crucial steps to make sure that each little one receives important routine immunisation companies, together with polio vaccination,” Dr Jane Aceng burdened.
Dr Samuel Bawa, Coordinator of the World Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) in Uganda, talking on behalf of WHO, famous that “attaining a polio-free world requires a powerful public well being system that’s in a position to answer public well being threats and emergencies affecting populations worldwide.”
Dr Bawa went on to encourage Uganda for this main choice to strengthen polio eradication within the nation and defend the well being of kids.
The Ugandan Ministry of Well being’s five-year strategic plan for immunization acknowledges the significance of immunization as one of the vital cost-effective public well being interventions. “The Ministry of Well being calls on all companions to assist the nation’s struggle in opposition to vaccine hesitancy, which is principally fueled by misinformation unfold by way of social media,” Dr Jane Ruth Aceng recalled.
Constructing on the construction and assets of the nOPV2 marketing campaign, a complete of roughly 72,000 immunisation groups consisting of well being employees, Village Well being Groups (VHTs) and Native Council Representatives (LC1s) will go house-to-house to manage oral polio vaccines. These groups are additionally being educated to sensitise the neighborhood on interpersonal communication, key family messages (KHMs) on Ebola prevention and community-based case definition to enhance early detection and reporting.
Uganda isn’t new to mass polio vaccination campaigns. The latest one befell from 14 to 18 January 2022, utilizing a door-to-door technique. By the top of the six-day marketing campaign, a complete of 9,768,697 kids in 136 districts had acquired the nOPV2 vaccine out of 8,791,710 focused kids, representing a nationwide protection of 111.1%.