East African Countries Set To Launch Joint Polio Vaccination Drive

Three health ministers from East African countries will on Friday launch a joint polio vaccination campaign for the Horn of Africa, Kenya's health ministry said on Thursday.

NAIROBI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 13th Sep, 2018 ) :Three health ministers from East African countries will on Friday launch a joint polio vaccination campaign for the Horn of Africa, Kenya's health ministry said on Thursday.

The ministers from Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia will launch the first round of the campaigns in Kenyan border town of Garissa from September 15-19 and subsequent round in October, targeting about 827,000 children below five years of age.

Sicily Kariuki, Kenyan Cabinet Secretary in the ministry of health, said the two planned rounds in Kenya will target 12 high risk counties.

She said the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) recommended two rounds of synchronized polio vaccination campaigns to be conducted in Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia due to recent isolation of more circulating vaccine-derived polio viruses in Somalia, and particularly in areas close to Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia border.

Kariuki said Somalia and Ethiopia will also be conducting their campaigns within the same period and assured the public that the polio vaccines are the usual vaccines used for routine vaccination in the health facilities.

"The vaccines have undergone rigorous safety procedures during the manufacturing processes. In addition, the ministry together with the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops medical personnel and vaccine testing expert committee have undertaken further testing of the vaccines at National Quality Control Laboratory in Nairobi and the test confirmed the safety of the vaccines," Kariuki said.

She said her ministry will implement preventive health interventions and response measures as guided by national policies and in line with international requirements as provided in International Health Regulations 2005.