Second Round of the National Polio Vaccination Campaign in Cameroon

In my previous blog post on the first round of the polio vaccination campaign, I mentioned that a two-stage (May 13 to May 15, and July 1 to July 3, 2022) national response vaccination campaign is needed to prevent the further spread of new poliovirus strains [1]. Even though Cameroon was declared free from wild poliovirus in 2020 [1], the emergence of new strains put the Ministry of Public Health (Minsante) in a state of emergency.

As a refresher, polio is a highly contagious disease caused by the poliovirus and transmitted by drinking contaminated water or eating contaminated food [1]. The disease affects your spinal cord and causes paralysis, which could end up being partial or irreversible [1]. To prevent polio, you have to vaccinate your kids and follow the same hygienic rules for preventing most infectious diseases.

The difference in activities between the first and second-round campaigns is that vitamin A supplementation and deworming were given alongside the main activities. However, in this second round of the polio vaccination campaign, the oral polio vaccine will be administered to children under five, and children aged 0 to three months without a birth certificate will be counted [1]. That is all. And, like the first round of the campaign, these activities will take place through door-to-door visits to homes, health facilities, and other public places like farms, schools, markets, mosques, churches, and so on [1].

Take note that any child under five years of age vaccinated during the first round will still need to be vaccinated during this second round of the campaign. So, let us not keep our kids away by saying they have already received their vaccines. Keep your children’s vaccination cards handy, along with not laminating these paper vaccination cards yet because more information will be added to them.

Keep in mind that if we do not get a good vaccination coverage of at least 70%, we will keep having disease outbreaks and new strains of diseases.

Health and wellness are everyone’s business, not just the health and public health sector. We all have a role to play in ensuring a long life for all by encouraging our loved ones, colleagues, and peers to get their children vaccinated.

After this campaign, ensure that you continue with your children’s routine vaccination in health facilities according to the vaccination calendar [1]. The vaccines are free, have saved countless lives, and continue to do so. Tomorrow is the D-day. Please welcome our social mobilizer and vaccinator teams wherever you all might be.

We, the health and public health workforce intend to leave no child behind because vaccinated populations are healthy populations.

References

1. Cameroon Minsante. (2022). National Vaccination Campaign In Response to Polio Outbreak Key Messages. Yaoundé: Cameroon MINSANTE.

2. Image Credit: PEV/EPI Cameroon