Mass Polio immunisation starts Saturday

By Taddeo Bwambale and Derrick Kyatuka

The Ministry of health will this weekend embark on a countrywide immunisation of all children under the age of five in a three-day national campaign that starts on Saturday.

The exercise is meant to protect children against the killer disease in the wake of recent outbreaks in neighbouring countries that threaten Uganda’s progress.

Addressing journalists on Thursday, the state minister for primary healthcare, Sarah Opendi said the countrywide campaign was targeting to reach at least 7.5 million children.

“The teams will move house to house vaccinating all children in the target group. Other places where children will be immunised from include markets, streets and places of worship,” she said.

According to the minister, each child will be given a dose oral polio vaccine during the three-day exercise funded by the World Health Organisation, UNICEF and government at a cost of sh14.9b.

The Minister warned that rising cases of polio outbreaks in countries neighbouring Uganda were putting the country at risk of a major outbreak. Uganda was certified polio-free in 2006.

“With polio cases being reported in neighbouring countries and the porous nature of our borders which enables free movement of people amongst countries, Uganda remains at high risk of importing the polio virus,” Opendi said.

Uganda experienced outbreaks of the polio virus in February 2009 and October 2010 that were traced to South Sudan and Kenya, respectively. 

In July 2011, a polio case was detected in Kenya and it was closely linked to an earlier polio outbreak in Bugiri.
In 2013 and 2014, polio cases were further detected in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.