Burkina Faso initiates major polio vaccination drive across seven regions
The Ministry of Health in Burkina Faso, with the support of UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), has officially started a large-scale polio vaccination initiative targeting seven specific regions of the country.
Running from September 18 to 21, 2020, this effort aims to protect more than 2 million children under the age of five. The campaign focuses on the Plateau Central, Centre, Centre-Nord, Centre-Ouest, Centre-Sud, Est, and Centre-Est regions.
Earlier this year, in January, a poliovirus case was identified in the Ouargaye health district. While an immediate local response was launched in the Centre-Est area, the Covid-19 pandemic eventually stalled these critical health interventions.
James Mugaju, the Deputy Representative of UNICEF in Burkina Faso, noted that the temporary suspension of immunization activities due to the pandemic led to a concerning rise in epidemic-prone diseases. By June, surveillance systems recorded nine new polio cases and over 600 instances of acute flaccid paralysis, a condition often linked to the virus.
Mobile health teams reaching every household
To ensure the success of this mission, UNICEF has facilitated the delivery of over 2,290,000 vaccine doses. More than 5,000 health workers and mobilizers are visiting homes individually to educate families and vaccinate every child aged 0 to 59 months.
To maintain safety during the Covid-19 era, teams have been equipped with 39,500 face masks and 26,500 bottles of hand sanitizer to prevent the spread of the coronavirus during their door-to-door rounds.
The UNICEF representative emphasized the total commitment of international health organizations to eradicating this outbreak. He urged local leaders and parents to assist vaccination teams, highlighting that polio remains a significant threat to child health in the country. With security issues and the ongoing pandemic limiting general healthcare access, the urgency to immunize children against preventable diseases has never been higher.
Poliomyelitis is a highly infectious viral disease that primarily targets young children. It spreads through contaminated food or water, eventually attacking the nervous system after multiplying in the digestive tract.
Although Burkina Faso was declared free of the wild poliovirus in 2015, it is currently among 15 African nations dealing with outbreaks of other poliovirus variants. A subsequent vaccination phase is scheduled for early October 2020, which will expand coverage to nine regions, including the Sahel and the Nord.
