The Ministry of Health will start a massive vaccination against polio virus which will target children less than 60 months of age amid an outbreak of the virus.
Polio, or poliomyelitis, is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by the poliovirus, which spreads from person to person and can infect a person’s spinal cord, causing paralysis, according to research.
The Gambia last detected a polio case in 1986 and was certified as polio-free in 2004. The ministry is calling on parents to cooperate with our vaccinators during the vaccination campaigns to enable us to end this outbreak soonest.
“We are preparing for at least two massive supplementary polio vaccination rounds targeting 382, 908 children 0-59 months in each round. Our goal is to vaccinate all children 0-59 months in The Gambia. We implore all parents to cooperate with our vaccinators during the vaccination campaigns to enable us to end this outbreak soonest,” health minister Dr Ahmadou Lamin Samateh said during a news conference held in Banjul.
“The Gambia has one of the best immunization programmes in the sub region, thanks to caregivers for being receptive to the vaccination. Together, we have been able to defeat many vaccine-preventable diseases,” he added.
“In May 2021, with support from the World Health Organization and other partners, The Gambia initiated environmental surveillance to supplement the traditional (Acute Flaccid Paralysis – AFP) polio surveillance system. Presently, environmental samples are collected from three sites. The samples collected from the AFP cases and the environments are sent to the regional polio laboratory in Dakar for analysis.”
Dr. Samateh said it is important to note that this outbreak is evidence of poliovirus circulation within the population, but does not mean detection of polio paralysis in the population.
“In line with World Health Organization recommendations, Polio outbreak response Standard Operating Procedures, and the International Health Regulations 2005, I officially declare this outbreak a National Public Health Emergency.”
