The Western Equatoria State health ministry in collaboration with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organization (WHO), and World Vision yesterday launched a four-day polio vaccination campaign in Yambio.
The campaign will target all children below 5 years of age and will run from 12th to 15th November in the Counties of Yambio, Nzara, Nagero. Ezo, Mvolo, Tambura, and Maridi targeting 136,000 Children across the state.
UNICEF’s representative, Adieus Chane said during the launch that the campaign aims to eradicate polio in the State.
“Today, the purpose of this vaccination campaign is to respond to the outbreak that has happened in South Sudan,” Chane said. “We do not want it to come in our area of Western Equatoria State so we are responding by providing (OPV) Oral PolioVaccine to children from zero months to 59 months, which is generally called under 5. We can only win this battle when we defeat the poliovirus completely as we did for smallpox.”
The secretary-general of the state, Wilson Thomas Yanga, called upon all the parents to join hands together and see that the state and country are free of polio.
“You should continue now with your work but anyone who will refuse to give the child for the vaccination should be reported because the disease is transmitted from human being to human being, we want to see the program done,” Yanga said.