A collection of campaign stories captured and curated by Linksbridge SPC
Featured Stories
Following months of delay due to the coronavirus pandemic, multiple countries resumed polio outbreak response campaigns in July:
From July 3–6, Burkina Faso reached 174,304 children under the age of 5 in two districts of the Centre-East region. The number of cVDPV2 cases in the country stands at five, all linked to the Jigawa outbreak in Nigeria. WHO; GPEI
Angola ran a polio vaccination campaign from July 10–13, reaching over 1.9 million children under age 5 across 18 provinces to surpass its initial 1.2 million target. WHO; CGTN
On July 20, Pakistan relaunched an anti-polio drive suspended since March due to Covid-19, targeting almost 800,000 children door-to-door over five days in the high-risk districts of Attock, Faisalabad, South Waziristan, and parts of Karachi and Quetta. Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme
In Afghanistan, a polio campaign to reach 1.1 million children in the eastern part of the country was underway as of July 22. OCHA
The Philippines resumed its Sabayang Patak Kontra Polio campaign, distributing oral drops to children under age 5 (under 10 in selected areas) in Mindanao from July 20–August 2. The country also launched new phased campaigns in Central Luzon on July 20, with the provinces of Cavite, Laguna and Rizal scheduled for August. WHO
As of July 28, Yemen has reached over 930,000 (81%) of children in 13 governorates with polio vaccinations and vitamin A micronutrient supplements. WHO
Outbreak Response
South Sudan vaccinated over 94,000 children ages 6 to 59 months against measles from June 22 to July 3 in Aweil East County, Northern Bahr el Ghazal state. The country first reported a rise in cases in January of this year. WHO
Following an outbreak that has killed 12 people, Cameroon will soon launch a cholera vaccination campaign in the fishing village of Londji, local health authorities said on July 8. The epidemic was first detected in June after the sudden deaths of four villagers with cholera-related symptoms. Xinhua
Due to worsening security problems brought on by terrorist attacks, Mozambique was forced to postpone cholera vaccination drives slated to start July 27 in the districts of Ibo, Macomia and Mocimboa da Praia in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. Radio Mozambique; UNICEF
Local Campaigns
Ethiopia concluded a 10-day measles vaccination campaign on July 14, targeting 15 million children from 9–59 months. The drive was extended from its original three days to prevent overcrowding as a part of Covid-19 preventive measures. UNICEF
India’s Bihar state kicked off a Japanese encephalitis vaccine campaign in mid-June that will continue through August—aiming to reach children 1 to 15 years old in endemic districts. BMGF ICO
Initially planned for April 18–19, Nepal’s biannual national vitamin A supplement campaign took place July 6–7—targeting over 2 million children 6 to 59 months of age. Children between 1 and 5 years also received deworming tablets. The Himalayan Times
Ahead of peak transmission season, Nigeria’s Borno state launched a seasonal malarial chemoprevention campaign on July 14, delivering the antimalarial combination of amodiaquine plus sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine door-to-door to 2 million children ages 3–59 months. WHO
During national deworming month in July, the Philippines distributed anti-helminthic drugs or deworming tablets to children and teens ages 1 to 19 years in Region 1. Philippine Information Agency