3rd phase of the national vaccination campaign on poliomyelitis
Gabon organized since December 16th to 19th the third phase of the preventive campaign against polio aiming at vaccinating more than 319,000 children under the age of 5, according to the World Health Organization.
The campaign has mobilized 1,474 vaccinators, 50 pedestrian agents, 169 team suporvisors, 279 volunteers and 102 drivers. Vaccination coverage recorded in the previous two passages that have targeted a population of less than 15 years (86.9% in June and 84.7% in September) were below targets of 95%. Gabon has not recorded cases of polio since January 2011. These campaigns reinforce prevention as two neighboring countries have recorded cases, namely Cameroon (9 cases) and Equatorial Guinea (5 cases).
The campaign started on Tuesday as part of the global initiative for polio eradication focused on three broad strategies which are: strengthening immunization, surveillance of acute flaccid paralysis and organization additional quality immunization activities.