A campaign to vaccinate children against polio disease kicked off in the greater Ikwoto and Lopa/Lafon counties of South Sudan’s Torit State on Thursday, an official said.
Oler Charles Adelino, head of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in the state, told Radio Tamazuj that the program is a sub-national immunization campaign targeting more than 66,000 children below 5 years in the two greater counties.
“We have a sub-national immunization campaign from 14th to 17th this month. There are two counties in Torit State to implement this program that is Ikwoto and Lopa/Lafon based on the former counties of Lopa and greater Ikwoto and they consider all the newly created counties among these counties,” he said.
“We are targeting 24,691 from Lopa/Lafon, which is greater Lopa and then 41,681 from greater Ikwoto,” he added.
The EPI manager urged mothers and caregivers to vaccinate children against polio. “The mothers and caregivers should make sure that their children receive this vaccine. It is a very important vaccine that will protect their children from Polio virus in order not to paralyze them,” he said.
Every year, four vaccination campaigns are organized in Torit State to prevent children from the polio virus, according to Oder.
Once a child is paralyzed, he or she will not be healed, Oder stressed.
Polio, also known as poliomyelitis, is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that attacks the nervous system. The disease is more likely to be contracted by children younger than 5 years old.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one in every 200 recorded polio infections cases often results in permanent paralysis.