With vaccine, no child deserves to get polio

Resurgence of the debilitating viral infectious polio disease is worrying, given that the country was polio-free for 22 years.

There are 13 reported cases, having risen from two in February to eight in March. The Government has declared 42 high-risk districts in Rift Valley, Central and Nairobi provinces. Health experts are warning the country is not safe amidst revelations there are more than 300,000 children not being reached with the life-saving vaccines during routine immunisation.

According to Unicef, the last two rounds of polio campaign that cost Sh238 million seem not to have yielded much, as the virus was still circulating. In fact, there is a downward trend in immunisation coverage.

Turkana District has grim statistics. Ten out of 13 children diagnosed with the Wild Polio Virus in the district had not been immunised.

The outbreak is a combination of many factors, from Government failure to efficiently supply polio vaccines to parents not taking their children for immunisation.

Redouble efforts

To attain a polio-free country, the Government must overcome the obstacles of immunisation in the hard to reach areas, which are particularly susceptible to disease importation and rethink new strategies to up immunisation coverage.

We must double our efforts to ensure that all children are vaccinated. After all, it only takes two drops to save a child for a lifetime.

 

 

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