Margibi County – Liberia’s quest to become a polio-free nation continued last weekend with A four-day campaign in Margibi County, the latest in a series of stops aimed at eradicating the menace from the post-war nation.
Poliomyelitis, polio for short, is a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children.
The virus is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g. contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis.
Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs.
In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent. There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented by immunization.
Liberia, a member of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) and Polio End Game Initiative, experienced its last case of Polio virus in 2010 in District #1 Grand Bassa.
Since then, health authorities and the international community have been making a concerted effort to curb the importation of WPV(Wild poliovirus) in Liberia.
The exercise in Margibi on the weekend was part of Liberia’s effort to join other countries in the West African Sub Region in a campaign from Sept 30 – Oct 3, 2016 to conduct synchronized Polio on in the National Immunization Days drive targeting children below the age of 0-59 months.
The drive centered in the areas of Duazohn, Silver Beach and other communities.
Since 2010, nearly one million Liberian children have been immunized against polio disease.
Authorities are targeting at least 945,000 children under five across the country.
There are currently more than 2,000 vaccinators spread out across the country to various homes, business centers, market places, playgrounds to eradicate the disease from Liberia.
Although Liberia was among many countries that were certificated in 2008 as being polio-free, the disease caused by a virus that spreads from person to person, resurfaced in 2009.
The polio vaccine is one of five routine vaccines that are given to children at health centers. The vaccines are given to children in order to protect them against TB, polio, pneumonia, measles and whooping cough.
To date, UNICEF has delivered 1.7 billion doses of vaccine and supported the training of tens of thousands of front-line workers in communities around the world.
A major social mobilization effort has been deployed to convince communities of the need to have their children vaccinated and to explain the measures being taken to minimize any risk of infection.
Community members, including traditional and religious leaders, women’s groups and local NGOs are playing a key role in promoting the campaign.
The Ebola outbreak affected all aspects of the health system, including vaccinations. Measles vaccinations, for example, dropped by 45 per cent between August and December 2014 compared with the same period in 2013, according to government figures.
Measles is a highly contagious viral disease and one of the leading causes of death among young children globally. Polio, also a highly infectious viral disease, can lead to paralysis and sometimes death, with children under the age of five the most vulnerable.
Both diseases are easily preventable as vaccines are effective and inexpensive.