A campaign to immunize more than 800,000 children aged 0-5 is underway in South Sudan’s greater Jonglei region and Northern Bahr el Ghazal State.
Abraham Deng, the Extended Program for Immunization (EPI) manager for Jonglei State told Radio Tamazuj that 416,186 children are expected to be immunized in the states of greater Jonglei during the national exercise which began on Tuesday.
“The campaign was launched by the Jonglei government, UNICEF and WHO. In Bor and Twic East counties, the vaccinations are ongoing. The supplies reached Pochalla and Pibor counties. There are delays in transporting the supplies to counties like Akobo. But it will start soon," he explained.
Meanwhile, the EPI director in Aweil state Ministry of health and environment Kuol Manyang Diing said the polio vaccination campaign will conclude on 3rd May.
“The campaign will continue for a period of four days. We are targeting 440,000 children under 5 years old,” Kuol said.
He said more than 20,000 volunteer vaccinators have been recruited and deployed in all five counties of greater Northern Bahr el Ghazal region.
The health officials called on parents to ensure their children are immunized.
According to the World Health Organisation, Polio is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children. Its initial symptoms include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, pain in the limbs and can cause permanent paralysis. Polio has no cure but can be prevented by immunization.