Sudan Polio Immunization Campaign to Reach 5 Million Children

On Aug. 6, a three-day campaign of polio immunization of nearly 5 million children in Sudan will begin. This is in response to a reported case of polio in neighboring Chad. The Aug. 5 press release announcing the immunization campaign says it's being led by the Ministry of Health and backed by UNICEF, WHO and other partners, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The campaign will be carried out in all 15 states in the north of Sudan, and it's anticipated that vaccinators will immunize more than 82 percent of the children under age five. The task will be accomplished by tens of thousands of trained individuals who will go house to house and administer the oral polio vaccine.

This is an annual event in Sudan, including Darfur where conflict persists. Credit for that is given to both WHO and UNICEF for their work in getting support for the safety of the volunteer vaccinators in areas of conflict and danger. Nonetheless, there are still concerns that increased population displacement, insecure borders, and ongoing insecurity may threaten vaccination efforts. Also, recent heavy rains and flooding in many parts of the north of Sudan no doubt will leave some gaps, and children may be missed in some inaccessible areas. However, any children not vaccinated during this campaign will receive the vaccine as soon as there is access to them.

WHO supports the annual training of the volunteer vaccinators and about half of the cost of the campaign itself. The vaccinators themselves come from the State Ministries of Health, non-governmental organizations, and local communities.

Sudan's last reported case of polio occurred in 2005, and the last immunization campaign such as this one took place in April 2007, when more than 6 million children were vaccinated.

Ted Chaiban is a UNICEF representative. In the press release he said: "In the last few years, incredible efforts in the face of many challenges have led us to a point where polio could soon be stamped out in Sudan. But because polio respects no borders, we have to ensure that when cases are found close to home, we redouble our efforts to protect children."

Dr. Mohamed Aburrab is a WHO representative. Aburrab said that if polio is to be eradicated, surveillance is as important as immunization. Specifically, he said that "in order to eradicate polio, it is necessary to search out not only the polio cases, but also conditions that may resemble polio clinically."

The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) and WHO have established a surveillance system in Sudan called the Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) Surveillance system.

Source:

Press release, Polio immunization campaign to protect nearly 5 million children in north of Sudan; http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/KHII-75T46P?OpenDocument