Lilongwe targets 600,000 children in 3rd round of polio vaccination
Lilongwe has launched a third round of polio vaccination campaign targeting 600, 000 under-five children.
The campaign will run from 11 to 14 August, 2022.
Speaking during the launch of the campaign, Mayor of the City, Richard Banda, said parents and guardians should take ownership of their children for vaccination.
“Polio is a serious disease which gives permanent disability to children therefore parents should take advantage of this campaign period to bring their children to receive vaccine,” he said.
Banda therefore appealed to those who have the under-five children to vaccinate them despite their beliefs and religion.
District Environmental Health Officer, Paul Chunga said the District Health Office (DHO) plans to reach out to each and every child under the age of five in both rural and urban areas of the district.
“We have deployed Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) who are everywhere in the district to make sure these children are vaccinated,” he said.
Chunga expressed optimistic that the third round will be good as it is addressing the challenges they had in the last two campaigns like shortage of staff and awareness to the public on polio among others.
Tamanda Nazimela from World Health Organization (WHO) said Malawi is performing well in polio vaccination since the campaign started in March with the first round.
“There has been really a good progress on the campaigns for the country as many children are receiving the vaccines,” she said.
Nazimela said this time around they want all children to be vaccinated and no child should miss.
However, third round of polio vaccination campaign was officially launched on Wednesday in Dedza by Minister of Health Khumbize Chiponda.
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