Skip to main content

Vaccination against polio kicks off

Countries
Angola
Sources
Govt. Angola
Publication date
Origin
View original

Luanda - The second campaign of vaccination against poliomyelitis starts this Friday in 10 provinces of the country.

The campaign will mainly cover the provinces of Luanda, Bengo, Bié, Cuanza Sul, Huambo, Huíla, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje and Moxico, in a campaign that ends on December 15, with the aim of immunizing children from zero to five years old.

Luanda Province expects for this phase to vaccinate 1,600 million children as 22,000 technicians are mobilized to work in the campaign with the support from the Angolan Armed Forces, National Police and the Civil Protection and Fire Brigade Service.

In Bengo Province the health authorities plan to immunize 86,281 children from zero to five years old, with 101,850 doses of vaccines.

At least 291 mobile and fixed teams are on the job that is involving over 900 brigade members, including vaccinators, supervisors, mobilizers, registrars and coordinators, Angolan Armed Forces (FAA) and National Police (PN) personnel.

The Extended Vaccination Programme (PAV) director, Alda de Sousa, said that this campaign has the goalto eradicate the poliomyelitis disease from Angola, a situation that has just became a priority of the Executive again.

This campaign is due to the record last October of 44 cases in the provinces of Benguela, Bié, Cuanza Sul, Huambo, Luanda, Huila, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje and Moxico.

Angola has not reported cases of polio since December 2015.

Provisional data indicates that during the last campaign held from 15 to 17 November in Luanda, Bengo, Benguela, Huambo and Cuanza Norte provinces, more than two million children under the age of five were immunized.

Polio is a contagious disease caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system and can cause paralysis of the legs and arms.

The disease is transmitted when the poliovirus (found in a sick person's stool) enters a child's mouth through water, food or dirty hands.