Health ministry to conduct door-to-door Polio immunisation campaign

The Ministry of Health has announced that they will conduct a nationwide door-to-door Polio immunisation campaign in October and December, 2021 following its outbreak in Uganda.

The Health Ministry on Tuesday announced that the country had confirmed positive polio laboratory tests in Kampala and instantly declared polio a public health emergency.

In a letter from Dr. Henry Mwebesa who is is the Director General Health Services, the ministry will now move house to house, immunising Ugandans starting October.

“Health workers will visit house-to-house and vaccinate all children aged 5 years and below against Polio. All health workers participating in the campaign will wear masks and strictly observe the COVID-19 SOPs to ensure children are safely vaccinated,” Dr. Mwebesa said.

The ministry said that they will announce specific dates for the vaccination campaign through media and posters to inform parents further.

Polio as a viral disease is transmitted from person to person, mainly through a faecal – oral route or less frequently, through contaminated water or food, and multiplies inside the intestines.

Uganda and the entire Africa were certified by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as wild-polio virus free in August 2020, but a resurgence has been reported in a number of countries including Uganda’s neighbours like Kenya, South Sudan and DRC.

Dr. Mwebesa said that the resurgence may have been due to reduced routine immunisation and polio immunisation rates in the country during the Covid-19 pandemic. The government is now alert and has increased surveillance on polio cases.