By Alex Gahima
The Kisoro district health department has commenced training of health workers including district Supervisors and Village Health Teams (VHTs) that will participate in a three day house to house vaccination campaign against Polio.
The campaign that will take three days is set to kick off on the 14th to the 16th of January, 2022.
All children under the ages of five are highly encouraged to be vaccinated.
The campaign comes at a time when the country is on high alert following a communication from the health Ministry that they might be a polio outbreak in the country after samples on fecal matter collected in the capital Kampala tested positive.
The ministry of health also warned that it was a rare wild polio virus type 2, whose vaccine was withdrawn from the country’s routine immunization exercises back 2016.
Uganda is set to immunize over 8 million children below the age of five against polio.
Assistant District Health officer (ADHO) in charge of Maternal, child health and Immunization Annet Dusabe said a district ordination meeting was organized to prepare health workers for the three day campaign.
Dusabe says, Kisoro district does not have Polio however there is a high risk of international transmission since Uganda is surrounded by 3 countries infected with Polio.
“Kisoro being a border district with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), importation of the virus is most likely therefore we need to do everything necessary to protect our children”, Dusabe explained
Dr. Denis Rubahika Kinungu, a senior medical officer in the monitoring, evaluation and research department under the Ministry of Health said the Polio virus type 2 is the most virulent of the three types, 1, 2, and 3.
Dr. Rubahika said the resurgence can be attributed to the reduced routine immunization in the country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Uganda was certified polio-free in October 2006 by the World Health Organization (WHO) after having reported no indigenous polio cases for 10 years.
The Government of Uganda in close collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) are introducing a novel oral polio vaccine type 2 (noPV2) that will be administered in two phases.
Dr. Rubahika says the model of delivery is similar to the routine Polio vaccine and urged the public to embrace the campaign regardless of whether a child has already been vaccinated.
What is nOPV2?
The nOPV2 is a modified form of the monovalent oral polio vaccine designed to be more genetically stable and less likely to, in under-immunized populations, revert to a form that can cause permanent paralysis in children from vaccine-derived poliovirus.
According to World Health Organization Africa, The vaccine is being deployed under an Emergency Use Listing (EUL) that requires countries to meet a set of readiness requirements prior to use of the vaccine.
More that 50 million children in six countries: Benin, Congo, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria and Sierra Leone have been vaccinated using nOPV2 with no major safety concerns.
By the end of 2021, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Nigeria, The Gambia, Senegal and Uganda will be implementing their mass immunization campaigns using nOPV2, targeting a total of approximately 30 million children.
https://www.afro.who.int/news/pursuing-endgame-novel-polio-vaccine-rollout-africa
WHO In charge for South Western Uganda Dr. Nicholas Magambo Kwikiriza said this is a supplementary exercise to boast the routine Polio Immunization at health facilities across the country.
Dr. Magambo said the first phase will take three days and will be followed up with another in about one or two months’ time.
Guidelines to Health Workers:
The Kisoro district Health Officer Dr. Steven Nsabiyumva said it is very important that all vials, used and those that were unutilized are return to health facilities without fail.
Dr. Nsabiyumva said this guideline must be observed for accountability purposes.
He also stressed the importance of observing no touch technique by ensuring the infants are held on their backs by parents or care givers allowing the vaccine of two drops per doze to easily be administered.
“All health workers involved in this campaign must wear personal protective equipment (PPEs) and avoid touching the children because we are must observe the Standard Operating procedure (SOPs) against COVID-19.
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