The Zomba District Health Office says a total of 283,216 children are expected to receive the polio vaccine in the district following detection of polio in Blantyre District.
Public Relations Officer for Zomba District Health Office, Arnold Mndalira, says the vaccination campaign will target children from zero to 10 years old.
You know polio is a disease that is easily transmitted form one person to another, so according to healthy guidelines, even a single case is pronounced as an out break, so when Blantyre district confirmed polio case it is an outbreak and this is why as Zomba city council we have launched this campaign”, Sais Mndalira.
Mndalira says the exercise will be conducted as a special five-day campaign starting from February 10, hence appealing to parents and guardians to fully participate and ensure that their children are vaccinated.
“Polio is one of the diseases that causes death and even disability so when such campaigns are happening parents and guardians should take part so we are encouraging them that if they see health personnel coming to their homes, they should welcome them and make sure their children are vaccinated”, he explained.
He added that after some weeks of the vaccination, the office will continue administering the vaccines to children in the district until it confirmed that there no polio case in Malawi.
The polio vaccination campaign will be carried out by the Ministry of Health with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNICEF.
The Ministry of health and sanitation, declared an outbreak of polio following the detection of the polio virus in Blantyre City, after laboratory tests on faecal samples collected from one of the city’s public toilets confirmed the presence of the virus.
According to a statement signed by Principal Secretary in the ministry Dr. Dan Namarika, the discovery signals active circulation of the virus and poses a serious threat to public health, especially to children.
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