The Ministry of Health and UNICEF with support from the Global Partnership for Polio Eradication have rolled out the Polio vaccination campaign aimed at reaching out to over 6 million under-five children in Malawi.
Inkosi Mtwalo of Mzimba urged all Malawians to take the exercise seriously to ensure all children under the age of five get vaccinated.
“Let me urge all parents to take this campaign seriously to protect our children from polio which causes disability among people. A special plea should go to some faith leaders who restrict their members from accessing hospital services, let’s all vaccinate our children because polio is a dangerous disease,” pleaded Senior Chief Mtwalo.
Coordinator for Mzimba North District Expanded Programme on Immunization, George Nundwe, said the vaccination campaign started on a good note.
Nundwe attributed the success to the good working relationship between the Ministry of Health and its partners like UNICEF.
District Director of Health Services, Dr Ted Kondowe, told Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) that the exercise will be successful because of the numerous training sessions they had with key stakeholders and mass sensitisation to the public.
“Before the exercise, we trained vaccinators, supervisors and local leaders. We also used media like Mzimba Radio and MBC to transmit information into the public domain. We are targeting 111 thousand children,” said Dr Kondowe.
The vaccination campaign will run from 21 to 24 March, 2022. It was necessitated after a resurgence of a polio case in Lilongwe.