The representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) Abdiwahid Mohamed Noor has announced that the first round of the polio vaccination campaign has been initiated in Kitui.
This collaborative effort involved several partners, including the Kitui County Health and Sanitation Ministry, the WHO, Kenya’s Health Ministry, UNICEF, the Polio Global Eradication Initiative, the UN Refugee Agency, and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
“The campaign was initiated the campaign aimed to vaccinate 3,119,158 children under the age of five in ten counties, including Kitui,” Noor noted.
He further emphasized the importance of strong routine immunization services to maintain population immunity against polio and other preventable diseases.
Noor also assured communities that the vaccines were safe and encouraged parents to bring their children under the age of five for vaccination.
Kitui County Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Benson Musyoka underscored the severity of polio, a disease without a cure that affects the limbs.
He urged parents to ensure their children were vaccinated and mentioned healthcare development programs initiated by Governor Malombe.
The Kitui County Public Health Chief Officer Lyne Kitwani mentioned that eight polio cases had been reported in Garissa County since June, and she discussed the importance of sero-surveys and acute flaccid paralysis monitoring.
Additionally, a medical expert, David Silu noted that polio had been eradicated globally except in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Henry Muinde, a logistician with the Kitui County Expanded Programme on Immunization, revealed that they aimed to immunize 95% of the targeted 184,197 children in Kitui County using polio vaccines, with each bottle containing 50 doses.
Patrick Musyoka of UNICEF emphasized their collaboration with the WHO in providing free vaccines.
The Kenyan Health Ministry planned three rounds of polio campaigns in ten high-risk counties for 2023.
Health teams would go house to house, vaccinating all children under five, with an extended age range in certain areas.
By Boniface Mulu
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