Second round polio vaccination a success

THE second round of Namibia’s mass polio vaccination campaign came to an end last night with health authorities satisfied that they had met the target set by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to give two drops of the vaccine to at least 80 per cent of the population.

By WHO standards, Namibia had to vaccinate no less than 80 per cent of its population with the Monovalent Type One Oral Poliomyelitis (mOPV) vaccine but the Government had set itself a target of 95 per cent. “We are confident that we will meet the WHO target.Everyone, including the WHO, is surprised by the success of the campaign,” said Health Permanent Secretary Dr Kalumbi Shangula.With statistics in from the first two days, Shangula said Khomas had 276 637 people vaccinated.The latest statistics on the region’s population indicated that Khomas has a population of 350 823 which would give a 79 per cent coverage for the first two days.From the results that had reached Shangula’s office by yesterday afternoon, Otjozondjupa had the best coverage for the first two days with 94 per cent followed by Erongo with 93 per cent.Karas had 80 per cent, Omaheke 74 per cent and Kavango 72 per cent.Other regions had only submitted the results of the first day or part of that.The second round ended at 21h00 last night.Meanwhile, Shangula said the number of suspected cases had reached 225 after three new cases were added.He, however, pointed out that more than 40 cases from the 225 had already been discarded as non-polio cases.One more death was also added to bring the total number of deaths to 26.Shangula said the additional one was not new but rather omitted when the statistics were updated last week.He said the experience picked up in the first round was key to the success as long queues were eliminated because of the fast pace and availability of the vaccination at all points.The third round is only for children under the age of five and will be held from August 20 to 24.”We are confident that we will meet the WHO target.Everyone, including the WHO, is surprised by the success of the campaign,” said Health Permanent Secretary Dr Kalumbi Shangula.With statistics in from the first two days, Shangula said Khomas had 276 637 people vaccinated.The latest statistics on the region’s population indicated that Khomas has a population of 350 823 which would give a 79 per cent coverage for the first two days.From the results that had reached Shangula’s office by yesterday afternoon, Otjozondjupa had the best coverage for the first two days with 94 per cent followed by Erongo with 93 per cent.Karas had 80 per cent, Omaheke 74 per cent and Kavango 72 per cent.Other regions had only submitted the results of the first day or part of that.The second round ended at 21h00 last night.Meanwhile, Shangula said the number of suspected cases had reached 225 after three new cases were added.He, however, pointed out that more than 40 cases from the 225 had already been discarded as non-polio cases.One more death was also added to bring the total number of deaths to 26.Shangula said the additional one was not new but rather omitted when the statistics were updated last week.He said the experience picked up in the first round was key to the success as long queues were eliminated because of the fast pace and availability of the vaccination at all points.The third round is only for children under the age of five and will be held from August 20 to 24.