The Ministry of Health on Friday 4th November 2022 launched the second round of national door to door Polio Vaccination campaign targeting 8.7M children under 5 years.
Polio virus invades the nervous system and can kill a child in a matter of hours but also causes permanent paralysis in arms and legs to those who survive. 1 out of 10 of polio victims die when their breathing muscles stop working because of the polio virus.
The 7-Day campaign which will run till 10th November is intended to protect children from the polio virus.
As part of the activities during the launch, the Permanent Secretary Dr. Diana Atwine led a team of MOH officials together with Gavi Vaccine Alliance toured Busi Island to assess how health centers in hard to reach areas such as islands operate, access to health services and uptake of immunization services.
However, the vaccination exercise will not take place in districts of Mubende, Kassanda Wakiso, Mukono and Kampala City due to the Ebola outbreak in those areas.
The Ministry of Health urges parents and caretakers to ensure that all children under 5 years receive the polio vaccine to protect them from polio.