Polio still poses major health problems in the country

If the number of children vaccinated has increased since 2013, the disease is still far from being eradicated in the country.

According to the expanded Programme of immunization (EPI), during each passage of the national days of immunization by the year 2014, more than 4,500,000 children aged 0-59 months were targeted. The objective was to vaccinate at least 100% of children during each campaign, according to the EPI with however many disparities in the regions, districts and health areas.

Five other cases of wild poliovirus were confirmed in three regions of the country namely Centre (2), (1) South and East (2). This, in the eyes of the external evaluators, reflects the persistence of polio circulation in our country.

As Dr. Elise Clarisse Nnomo Awondo well explained, any confirmation of the detection of a case of the virus responsible for polio in a person or in a child entails the implementation of three passages of mass campaign against polio on a radius of approximately 2,500,000 children around the index case.

This therefore explained the persistence not only of the Organization of campaigns in our country, but also the implementation of the activities of response against polio in a comprehensive manner.

Therefore it was recommended that the country should organise three other rounds of national immunization days this month of December and from January to February 2015. It is in this context that NIDS for the month of December 2014 have been implemented from 5 to 7 for all children aged 0 to 59 months in all 10 regions of the country as well as within populations of refugee women of all age groups.

It is important to know that these campaigns are planned until June 2015.