The Ministry of Health is set to launch the first round of polio vaccination campaign, targeting children aged five years in four counties.
Cabinet Secretary Nakhumicha S. Wafula will roll out the five-day drive starting Thursday 24th to 28th August 2023 with an initial focus on Kiambu, Nairobi, Kajiado, and Garissa counties with the aim of vaccinating approximately 1.8 million children.
Cumulatively, the government will conduct three rounds of emergency polio vaccination campaigns across 10 counties with the highest risk of polio transmission, targeting 7.4 million children.
Ministry of Health Kenya, with support from @UNICEFKenya, @WHOKenya and other health partners will conduct a 5-day vaccination campaign against #polio between 24-28 August 💧 👧🏾👦🏾
The vaccination drive aims to protect every child under 5 in 13 high risk counties 👧🏾👦🏾 💉… pic.twitter.com/B1JVGme2fi— Ministry of Health (@MOH_Kenya) August 23, 2023
They are Nairobi, Kiambu, Kajiado, Garissa, Kitui, Machakos, Tana River, Lamu, Wajir, and Mandera. The second and third rounds will be conducted between September and October 2023.
The latest campaign follows the detection of six poliovirus cases among children in the Hagadera Refugee Camp in Garissa County.
The cases were detected by healthcare workers through surveillance activities with stool analysis conducted at KEMRI.
Further examinations conducted in Atlanta, USA, confirmed the virus’s similarity to the strain responsible for an outbreak in a neighbouring country.
The campaign is in collaboration with UNICEF Kenya, WHO, and other health Partners.
