A collection of campaign stories captured and curated by Linksbridge SPC
Featured Stories
Several Indian states resumed mass drug administration (MDA) events to eliminate lymphatic filariasis this month: Uttar Pradesh distributed a triple-drug regimen of ivermectin, diethylcarbamazine citrate, and albendazole (IDA) in 12 districts July 12-26; Maharashtra distributed drugs to 13 million people July 1-15, administering IDA in three districts and the two-drug regimen diethylcarbamazine citrate and albendazole (DA) in three other districts; Chhattisgarh distributed DA to about 7 million people in four districts July 19-24; and Telangana distributed DA to nearly 12 million people in 14 districts July 15-17. India MoH; The Indian Express; Mumbai Live; India Education Diary; The News Minute
Kenya ran the second round of a major polio vaccination campaign July 17-21, targeting 3.4 million children age 5 and younger in 13 at-risk counties (Garissa, Isiolo, Kajiado, Kiambu, Kilifi, Kitui, Lamu, Machakos, Mandera, Mombasa, Nairobi, Tana River, Wajir) as well as in the Dadaab refugee camps. The first round of the campaign, held in May, reached 3.2 million children (93% of the target population). UNICEF
Spotlight on Covid-19 Campaigns
Tanzania kicked off its Covid-19 vaccination campaign on July 28 with President Samia Suluhi Hassan and other prominent government and religious leaders receiving the inoculation on live television, in part to allay fears stemming from widespread disinformation about vaccines. Although the Covid-19 vaccine is still optional in the country, even for essential and frontline workers, the president has assured the population of nearly 60 million that anyone who wants a vaccine will be able to get one. CNN
South Africa’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign is regaining pace after being disrupted by social unrest due to the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma in early July. Seventy-one vaccination sites were closed and more than 47,000 Covid-19 vaccine doses were destroyed during riots in the KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces. However, vaccination rates are picking back up—South Africa is aiming to increase its current 220,000 vaccinated people per day to 300,000 per day—and the government hopes to have 67% of the country’s 60 million people fully vaccinated by February 2022. ABC News
According to a recent analysis from CARE, for every $1 a country spends on Covid-19 vaccine doses, $5 is needed for delivery. Even after receiving vaccine shipments, many COVAX countries still must tackle the challenges of running an effective vaccination campaign. Per an NPR report, these challenges include cold chain storage, healthcare infrastructure and training of healthcare workers, combating vaccine hesitancy and misinformation, and other geographical and political obstacles. CARE; NPR
New interactive dashboards are now available on the Campaign Effectiveness website showing Covid-19 vaccines per country and campaign start dates and target populations per country.
Outbreak Response
A cholera vaccination campaign was launched in July in Nigeria’s Bauchi state, where a recent cholera outbreak affected 19 of the 20 local government areas. The campaign aims to reach 1.5 million people using oral vaccines donated by WHO. Per the ministry of health, 750,000 doses will be administered in two separate phases. The Guardian; Vanguard
Nigeria rolled out a house-to-house, mop-up oral polio vaccine (OPV) campaign in Borno state’s Monguno local government area (in northeastern Nigeria) in early July, with 191,000 doses targeting all eligible children across camps and communities in the area. UN OCHA
Pakistan’s Khyber district will hold an anti-polio campaign July 30-August 5 to vaccinate 200,000 children under age 5. Over 1,000 police personnel will provide security to 924 polio teams during the seven-day campaign. UrduPoint
Local Campaigns
Ghana plans to launch its national mass drug administration (MDA) next month to fight onchocerciasis and other neglected tropical diseases. Scheduled for August 9-22, the MDA will aim to reach 12.6 million school-age children with a single dose of deworming medicine in 137 districts across 15 regions. Ghana News Agency; Joy Online
Pakistan held a second phase of its typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV) campaign early in July, targeting children between ages 9 months and 15 years in 24 districts of Punjab. The campaign achieved 108% coverage: with 6,609,204 children targeted, 7,113,876 were vaccinated. The News International
Malawi held a weeklong, nationwide catch-up polio vaccination campaign July 12-16, targeting 1.8 million children under age 5. The vaccinations were administered by “under-five” clinics across the country. Malawi 24
Several Nigerian states ran malaria prevention campaigns in July: Kano state held a four-day seasonal malaria chemoprevention (SMC) mass drug administration against malaria July 8-11 targeting 3,108,050 children ages 3-59 months. Bauchi state will target 1.5 million children for its annual SMC campaign between July and October 2021, conducting house-to-house exercises across the 20 local government areas of the state. And Oyo state, with support from USAID, will distribute more than 5 million insecticide-treated nets (ITNs) across 351 wards in its 33 local government areas, replacing the 4 million ITNs distributed in 2016. VON; Daily Trust; The Sun
Sierra Leone kicked off the second round of its national immunization campaign on July 2, with the goal of vaccinating over 1 million children under age 5 against polio. WADR
Pakistan launched a six-day anti-measles campaign July 5-11 in six districts in Balochistan province (Dera Bugti, Sibi, Ziarat, Khuzdar, Surab, and Kalat) targeting 150,000 children ages 6 months to 7 years. Twelve districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province also ran measles prevention campaigns: as part of the effort, Dera Ismail Khan aimed to reach 300,000 children across 47 union councils, using over 400 outreach teams and 450 local teams, while in the Torghar district, 34 teams targeted 28,266 children in highly mountainous and difficult-to-access areas. Daily Balochistan Express; Dawn; The News International
Colombia ran a two-day measles and rubella vaccination campaign July 3-4, targeting children ages 1-10 in an effort to boost a nationwide campaign (initially launched in April) with low uptake. So far, only 34% of the target has been reached. Buenaventura has the lowest vaccination rate (only 3%), followed by Cartagena (10%), Bogotá (15%), Barranquilla (17%), and Santa Marta (22%). El Tiempo (Spanish)
The Mexican state of Hidalgo is extending a measles, mumps, and rubella vaccination campaign until August 13. The campaign, targeting children ages 1-4, was initially planned to run from April 19-June 25 but only achieved 67% coverage. Milenio