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The World Health Organisation (WHO) says porous borders around the Horn of Africa are undermining the eradication of polio in the region.
The organisation has pointed out that Somali, Ethiopia and South Sudan are countries where the virus is still circulating.
According to WHO Country Representative Custodia Mandlhate, there is need to strengthen cross border collaboration so as to deal with the disease.
She said there was need for countries to coordinate in polio vaccination so as to eradicate the disease. "The biggest challenge we face is that some countries like Kenya have managed to deal with the disease but the presence of the virus is still there in Somali, Ethiopia and South Sudan," she said.
Dr Mandlhate was, however, quick to note that WHO was committed to supporting vaccination efforts so that the disease could be eradicated. "Whenever we have one case, we treat it as an outbreak like it happened last year and currently, we are on the response mode," she said.
Mandlhate was addressing the Press at Karagita estate in Naivasha after the launch of the national polio vaccination campaign.
Earlier, Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the country had made significant strides in the vaccination, adding the last polio case was reported in the country 15 months ago. "During this round of vaccination, we will be targeting 8.8 million children of below five years of age countrywide," he said.
He said though the campaign had been smooth, the ministry still faces a myriad of challenges as some communities were still opposed to the vaccination.
Macharia lamented that insecurity in some regions was hindering vaccination as some children could not be reached by officers from the ministry. "We face stiff opposition from some areas especially those inhabited by nomadic communities while our officers are not able to access some parts of the country due to insecurity," he said.
He expressed concern that polio cases could come from neighboring countries, saying time was high that the campaign stretched beyond the borders. "We have gone an extra mile and agreed with our neighbours to ensure we synchronise the campaign to kick off at the same time and last the same duration," he said.
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