Palestinian Ministry of Health launches polio vaccination campaign to boost immunity in Bethlehem and Jerusalem
13 May – Ramallah - On Monday 16 May, the Palestinian Ministry of Health will launch round one of a polio vaccination campaign targeting all children under age five in Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
The vaccination campaign is scheduled to run over three days: Monday 16 May through Wednesday 18 May 2022. Vaccination, using bivalent oral polio vaccine (bOPV), is free and will be offered at maternal and child centres and UNRWA centres throughout Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
Palestine has been polio-free for more than 25 years, thanks to a robust routine immunization programme and a strong culture of vaccine acceptance. But following the detection of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 3 (cVDPV3) in sewage outflow in Wadi Alnar site, where there is a junction between wastewater coming from inside the green line with wastewater coming from Bethlehem and Jerusalem, the Ministry of Health has taken the decision to launch a preventative vaccination campaign to boost children’s immunity in the two areas deemed most at risk: Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
“It is all of our duty to keep Palestine polio-free by making sure that our children under the age of five receive the polio vaccine every time it is offered. I encourage every parent to make it a priority to vaccinate their children – for their sake, and for Palestine,” said Dr Mai al-Kaila, Minister of Health, Palestine.
The vaccination campaign is being carried out with support from WHO, UNICEF and UNRWA’s Palestine country offices.
“WHO’s Palestine office has provided technical support to the Ministry in planning and executing this campaign, drawing on the extensive expertise of our regional polio eradication programme. Palestine is in a strong position thanks to its routine immunization programme and to the value Palestinian parents put on childhood immunizations, but the regional risk of polio is increasing and it is absolutely crucial that we reach and vaccinate every child under age five in the target areas,” said WHO occupied Palestinian territory Representative Dr Rik Peeperkorn.
“It is critical that every child can access their right to a life free from polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases. UNICEF and its partners in this campaign are making every effort to ensure no child in Palestine will be affected by this debilitating disease. It is a duty upon all of us to keep Palestine polio free,” said UNICEF’s Special Representative to the State of Palestine Lucia Elmi.
Round two of the campaign will take place in June and will offer all children under age five a second two drops of polio vaccine, further boosting their immunity. Children living outside of Jerusalem and Bethlehem do not currently require an additional dose of oral polio vaccine. If their routine immunizations are up to date, they are well protected from poliovirus and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
Poliovirus primarily affects children under age five and can lead to lifelong paralysis. It can easily be prevented through vaccination. Parents are urged to accept polio vaccines every time they are offered.
The vaccination campaign in Palestine is part of the global effort to eradicate poliovirus, spearheaded by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Media contacts
Damian Rance
UNICEF Palestine Chief of Communication and Advocacy (English)
+972547787604
Mira Nasser
UNICEF Palestine Communications Specialist (Arabic)
+972 598568428
Bisma Akbar
WHO occupied Palestinian territory Communications Officer
+972 54-717-8959
Le ministère de la Santé à Djibouti lance la deuxième phase de la campagne nationale de vaccination contre la poliomyélite
Plus de 150 000 enfants de moins de cinq ans à Djibouti devraient recevoir une deuxième dose de vaccin contre la poliomyélite à la suite de la première dose administrée au cours de la 1ère phase de la campagne en février 2022.
Djibouti – 27 mars 2022 – La deuxième phase de la campagne nationale de vaccination contre la poliomyélite, menée par le gouvernement par l’intermédiaire du ministère de la Santé en collaboration avec l’UNICEF et l’OMS, a commencé le dimanche 27 mars, pour une durée de cinq jours, jusqu’au jeudi 31 mars.
Women leaders in polio eradication: Pariva Hashemi
Pariva Hashemi talks about her journey as part of Islamic Republic of Iran’s national polio programme
8 March 2022 – It was 1991 and Pariva Hashemi had just started working for the health centre of Semnan province in the Islamic Republic of Iran. Her day started at the break of dawn and sometimes ended late into the night. She spent hours travelling in harsh weather and under difficult road conditions to areas that were far from Semnan. And many times, she had to stay longer at the office to report on new cases of polio in the country.
As a mother, being away from her 2 young children for extended periods of time was not easy, but she knew she had to make this sacrifice to make an important dream come true. She had joined the polio programme with the vision of a day where every child in the world had a healthy body. As an expert on prevention and disease control, she made it her mission to search for where the polio virus was lurking and support polio teams in responding timely.
Islamic Republic of Iran reported its last case of wild poliovirus in 1997. During her time at the national polio programme, Hashemi worked on strengthening the disease surveillance system in the country. This was not an easy feat to accomplish. Islamic Republic of Iran shares 921 kilometres of land border with Afghanistan and 959 kilometres of land border with Pakistan – the only 2 polio-endemic countries. Due to movement of people, chances of virus importation remained high.
“This required utmost sensitivity in disease surveillance and vaccination. We had to make sure that all samples were collected and reported timely and that every child was vaccinated. This meant going the extra mile, across the mountains and deserts to reach every last child, no matter where they were coming from,” explains Hashemi.
All cases of acute flaccid paralysis in children under 15 were promptly detected, reported and sampled through the polio surveillance system. It was the result of these concerted efforts of the entire team that helped them in eradicating polio from the country.
It has been almost 20 years since the country was declared polio-free.
For Hashemi, being a polio worker included more than just timely surveillance. It also meant engaging with communities to educate them on the paralysing and life-threatening effects of the poliovirus.
“A lot of people were unaware of what the poliovirus could do to their child’s health. I am glad that I was able to talk to parents about the risks of poliovirus and encourage them to vaccinate their children. It was not as easy task; we were a strong team of experts in disease prevention and control who had a vision to achieve.
Hashemi retired in 2015 but she is still committed to the cause. She follows the work of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education and partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative closely. Due to her extensive experience in the field, she is often consulted by colleagues for her technical expertise.
She wishes for one more dream to come true now: to see the day when the Eastern Mediterranean Region – and the entire world – is polio-free.
While Islamic Republic of Iran reported its last case of wild poliovirus type 1 in 1997, the country has maintained a vigilant surveillance network, particularly in the areas bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan, where isolates of vaccine-derived polio virus have been found in the environment. Additionally, the country continues to implement 2 national vaccination campaigns each year that reach half a million children, including non-Iranians.
Djibouti lance une campagne nationale de vaccination contre la poliomyélite
Djibouti, 27 février 2022 - Son Excellence, Monsieur le Ministre de la Santé, Dr Ahmed Robleh Abdilleh, avec le soutien technique de l’OMS et de l’UNICEF, a lancé ce vendredi 25 février, une campagne nationale de vaccination contre la poliomyélite, d’une durée de cinq jours qui débutera le 27 février 2022, visant à atteindre tous les enfants âgés de zéro à 59 mois présents sur le territoire, soit environ150 000 enfants.
Des équipes multidisciplinaires de vaccinateurs, de mobilisateurs sociaux et d’experts techniques sont déployées à travers le pays pour frapper à toutes les portes, vacciner chaque enfant de moins de cinq ans et augmenter les niveaux d’immunité contre cette maladie infantile mortelle. Il s’agit d’une campagne de maison en maison, la vaccination étant également proposée dans les établissements de santé.
Djibouti a été déclaré exempt de polio en 1999, mais les épidémies de poliovirus de type 2 en Éthiopie, en Somalie et au Yémen accentuent le risque pour tous les enfants de la Corne de l’Afrique et de la région. La poliomyélite circule avec les personnes, et les mouvements de population de masse à travers les frontières internationales soulignent l’urgence d’augmenter les niveaux d’immunité dans toute la région, de sorte que le virus n’ait plus nulle part où aller.
La poliomyélite est une maladie contagieuse causée par un virus qui envahit le système nerveux pouvant entraîner une paralysie à vie et même la mort. Bien qu’incurable, la poliomyélite peut facilement être prévenue par la vaccination.
La campagne de Djibouti est menée avec un nouveau vaccin oral contre la poliomyélite de type 2 (nVPO2), un vaccin de dernière génération. Des essais cliniques ont démontré que le nVPO2 est aussi sûr et efficace que le vaccin antipoliomyélitique oral monovalent (VPOm2), tout en étant plus stable sur le plan génétique. Le nVPO2 est ainsi le vaccin recommandé par l’Initiative mondiale pour l’éradication de la poliomyélite pour les activités de vaccination supplémentaires.
Grâce à cette campagne, Djibouti devient le deuxième pays de la Région OMS de la Méditerranée orientale à utiliser ce vaccin, après l’Égypte qui a mené sa campagne nationale fin 2021.
À la suite de cette campagne de vaccination, une deuxième est prévue fin mars avant le mois de Ramadan, conformément aux meilleures pratiques mondiales visant à renforcer les niveaux d’immunité et à sauver la vie des enfants à Djibouti.
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