The Ministry of Health and Social Services is vaccinating children under the age of 10 in the Kavango East and Kavango West regions.
The polio preventative campaign started on Monday and ends on Thursday.
Two cases of poliovirus type 2 were detected at Ndama sewage in the Kavango East region through environmental surveillance.
Earlier this month the World Health Organization (WHO) Namibia and partners, announced their support to the health ministry in responding to the polio cases.
The WHO team conducted a clinician sensitisation meeting on polio at Rundu Intermediate Hospital to strengthen clinicians’ capacity for early detection, case reporting, and timely response to safeguard communities and reinforce surveillance.
Despite these efforts, the country remains at high risk of polio viruses due to low acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) case detection in bordering districts, a key indicator of surveillance system sensitivity.
WHO organisation representative Roselina de Wee on Monday announced a N$2.1-million donation to support operations in two regions.
The Angolan Consulate at Rundu also donated five megaphones to the health ministry to boost community mobilisation.
The Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) also announced that they are moving closer to achieving the global goal of wild poliovirus (WPV) eradication, maintaining sensitive surveillance systems becoming increasingly critical.
Currently, poliovirus surveillance capable of detecting WPV, vaccine-derived poliovirus, and Sabin-like viruses, relies on AFP surveillance and environmental surveillance, the GPEI says.
It say neighbouring countries Angola and Zambia have confirmed cases of Vaccine derived poliovirus type 2, with Angola recording a case as recently as 2025.
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