The World Health Organization announced in a press release that “the new type 2 oral polio vaccine is designed to provide safe and reliable protection against the polio virus and is genetically more stable than previous types of oral polio vaccine.”
Through this measure, WHO hopes that there will be greater prevention of outbreaks of polio type 2 (cVDPV2) in this country as it is estimated that 33% of children have not been vaccinated against this variant.
The World Health Organization explained that immunization coverage in the country was affected by population movements and displacement, which increased the difficulty of reaching children who are in dire need of vaccination.
Three cases of variant poliovirus have been confirmed in three of South Sudan's 10 states: Western Equatoria, Central Equatoria and Upper Nile, according to the World Health Organization.
The recorded cases are of children under five years of age. Unlike previous poliovirus outbreaks, infected children were not vaccinated against polio.
To limit the outbreak and prevent its spread, the Ministry of Health, with support from the World Health Organization, the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other partners, established an Emergency Response Task Force to coordinate the response while increasing surveillance efforts.
The World Health Organization stated that the campaign will target all children under the age of five in all ten states and three administrative regions of the country.
He said social mediators are currently engaging communities and key stakeholders to increase vaccination awareness and participation in the week-long campaign.
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