Kinshasa, Drc – (African Boulevard News) – The Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province has launched a polio and measles vaccination campaign aimed at immunizing hundreds of thousands of children under the age of five. The campaign, which is sponsored by the government in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), aims to vaccinate 1.1 million children against polio and 2.2 million against measles.
The vaccination comes at a time when North Kivu province is grappling with a resurgence of polio cases and a measles outbreak that has killed more than 6,000 people since last year. The vaccination campaign will run for ten days, and it is part of the government’s effort to strengthen the country’s healthcare system.
If the immunization coverage in the Democratic Republic of Congo has progressed particularly thanks to the Mashako 2.0 plan, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said this year. The vaccination campaign is a crucial step in preventing the spread of these diseases, protecting children’s health, and achieving herd immunity.
The campaign will be conducted in two phases with the first targeting high-risk communities and the second reaching out to children in the provinces’ rural areas. The government and partners have been carrying out awareness campaigns to sensitize parents and communities about the importance of the vaccinations.
Speaking to African Boulevard News, the provincial health minister, Dr. Nzanzu Syalita, said that the vaccination campaign was vital in reducing child mortality rates and preventing the spread of infectious diseases like polio and measles. “This campaign will help us reach our goal of eradicating these diseases and improving health outcomes for our children,” he added.
UNICEF Representative, Edouard Beigbeder, emphasized the importance of the vaccination campaign, calling it a critical intervention that would ensure children are protected against these diseases. “UNICEF and our partners are committed to supporting this campaign and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to be vaccinated,” he said.
In conclusion, the North Kivu vaccination campaign is a crucial step in preventing the spread of polio and measles and protecting the health of children. It is a collaborative effort between the government and its partners, and it is hoped that all children under five will be vaccinated during the campaign’s ten-day duration. Parents and communities are urged to cooperate with healthcare workers and bring their children for vaccination to help eliminate the spread of these diseases and improve child mortality rates in the long run.
