The national campaign to vaccinate polio continues for the second day in a row, its activities in vaccinating children from the age of one to five years free of charge in all parts of the Republic.
The Minister of Health and Population indicated that the compulsory routine vaccinations for polio vaccination are given “orally” in addition to “injections” according to the recommendations of the World Health Organization, pointing out that children born from 1/1/2016 to April 2018 will be given an additional dose. Injecting “against polio, because they did not get it according to the recommendation of the World Health Organization in this regard, to be given this additional dose starting from the 15th of next March.
Dr. Khaled Mujahid, Advisor to the Minister of Health and Population for Media Affairs and the official spokesman, said that the national campaign against polio is vaccinated with children “orally” and targets approximately 16.5 million children, pointing out that vaccination in the countryside is carried out from house to house to reach all the targeted children, As for cities, vaccinations are made by mobile teams in the streets, with fixed teams in health centers, health offices, rural units, and maternal and child care centers, until five o’clock in the evening.
“Mujahid” added that fixed teams were placed next to mosques, churches, clubs, markets, train stations and subway stations, parking lots and travel parks, pointing to the participation of about 90 thousand individuals from the medical teams in the campaign, as they were prepared and trained well to implement the national campaign Against polio.
Mujahid revealed that more than 3,300 cars were provided to transport vaccination teams to their locations throughout the 4 days of the campaign’s implementation period, noting that an evening meeting was held for all supervisors at the central level in the Ministry with health affairs directors to review the campaign’s activities daily.
He stressed that the ministry coordinated the participation and cooperation of all community leaders and governmental and non-governmental bodies, pointing out that the campaign activities will be followed up daily from the central room in the Ministry’s preventive affairs.
“Mujahid” stated that the last case of polio was recorded in Egypt in 2004, and the World Health Organization announced that Egypt is free of the disease in 2006, and despite this the Ministry of Health and Population implements annual national campaigns to raise the immune status of children under five years and to raise Immunity among non-Egyptian children coming from countries where polio is present, in order to keep Egypt free from the disease.
He said that immunization programs against infectious diseases are among the most important priorities of health systems to prevent diseases of epidemic importance, and it is considered one of the most important components of public health within the framework of sustainable development goals in the field of health care, in line with international standards in order to preserve the health of citizens.
– .
