Nkhata Bay to vaccinate170 000 against polio
Nkhata-Bay District Health Office (DHO) is targeting to vaccinate about 170 000 children during the polio supplementary immunisation campaign expected to start tomorrow to July 15.
Speaking on Saturday during a briefing for journalists, Nkhata Bay district senior health promotion officer Christopher Singini said the campaign is in response to the four new cases detected in the country and other new cases from neighbouring countries.
He said: “From the four new cases that have recently been detected in Malawi, three of them are children above five years; hence, the campaign is targeting all children below the age of 15 and Nkhata Bay is targeting to reach out to 170 000 children by the end of the campaign.”
Singini further said they have conducted meetings with leaders at community and district levels to reach out to special groups that resist vaccination.
Nkhata Bay District Pastor’s Fraternal member Pastor Christopher Gondwe commended Nkhata Bay DHO for engaging religious leaders in promoting awareness about the immunisation campaign.
“As a church, we are going to do our best in mobilising people in our communities to have their children vaccinated because we understand that if children are not healthy, the church will be paralysed,” he said.
The campaign, which is among others aimed at stopping transmission of the polio virus in the country and increase immunity of children under the age of 15, is being implemented by the Government of Malawi with support from Unicef.
