Fighting Polio: Injectable vaccine to be introduced

The Minister of Public Health, Andre Mama Fouda has announced the introduction of the injectable polio vaccine in the immunisation programme of the country.

Minister Andre Mama Fouda made the announcement during a press briefing in Yaounde on Wednesday 8th July 2015.

The Minister indicated that the new injectable vaccine will be administered on the left lap of children when they are three and a half months or 14 weeks old. The vaccine shall be introduced as from 15th July 2015.

The Public Health Minister explained that both the oral and injectable vaccines shall be administered together till about 2019 when the oral vaccine will no longer be used in the country.

The Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, a UNICEF representative, Felicite Tchibindat and that of the WHO, Dr Jean Baptiste Roungou were present at the press briefing.

This progressive move from an oral to an injectable polio vaccine comes a few months after Cameroon was declared a “non-exporter” of the wild polio virus. This was a major stride in the country’s fight against poliomyelitis as it moved from an exporter country to an affected country.

The Ministry of Public Health and its partners are poised to make Cameroon a polio-free country.