Blantyre ,July 11,2023:Blantyre District Director of Health and Social Services Dr Gift Kawalazira says all is set to vaccinate at least 667,375 under-15 year’s children in the door-door polio vaccination campaign which is expected to start tomorrow.
Speaking to journalists ahead of the campaign on Tuesday Kawalazira encouraged parents to ensure their children are vaccinated against polio.
He said the intervention is coming after the country recorded five Polio cases in Lilongwe, Blantyre, Phalombe, Chiradzulu, and Thyolo districts.
He added that the vaccination will protect children from the disease, especially now that Malawi’s neighbour Mozambique has reported more polio cases.
“We know that people are starting to get tired of these vaccines but Polio is dangerous and kills, Polio has no cure but can be prevented so Prevention is better than cure,” he said.
Kawalazira further stressed the need for concerted efforts from all concerned stakeholders so that community members they can understand the importance of vaccines in the lives of their children.
“For us as health workers to reach out to as many children as possible with the vaccine in the district, we believe it is everyone’s responsibility, Previously, the district has been successful in similar interventions or activities owing to the involvement of concerned stakeholders.
“Therefore, it is our plea that community and religious leaders Nongovernmental organizations, and parents should take a role in making sure that children are getting polio vaccine,” he said
He said starting Wednesday, July 12, and running through July 15, they will strive to immunize children aged zero to 15 regardless of their Polio Vaccination history.
He said the vaccine used in the campaign is the oral polio vaccine (two drops of the vaccine through the mouth).
Blantyre District health promotion officer Chrissy Banda stressed on the need to protect children from the disease, saying it may cause serious body implications if one catches it.
“Polio is a dangerous disease and some children can actually develop a paralysis where they fail to move their legs, arms and limbs because it affects the central nervous system,” she said.
Banda said health workers will take the vaccines to every house in the district.
“After administering the vaccine, the door of the house will be marked with a specific number because there will be another team that will verify that the exercise took place,” she said.
