Featured Stories
Sierra Leone targeted 1,311,860 eligible children ages 9 months to 5 years with measles-rubella vaccine in a campaign running June 28-July 4. Vitamin A supplements and deworming measures were integrated into the push, which operated out of health facilities and temporary fixed outreach points in schools, markets, mosques, churches and similar locations. A social mobilization and communication strategy accompanied the effort. Sierra Leone News Agency; WHO Sierra Leone
Burkina Faso’s Sissili province conducted a malaria vaccination campaign from June 28 to July 1, targeting 12,285 5-month-old children with the first dose of the RTS,S vaccine. The campaign was preceded by an advocacy workshop on June 23. Africa Newswire
Spotlight on Polio Campaigns
Pakistan targeted over 16.5 million children under age 5 with polio vaccine in a June 3-7 campaign spanning 66 districts. Coming in the wake of the year’s fourth WPV1 case (according to Dawn), the effort sought to reach districts where the virus had been detected ahead of the high travel season of the June Eid holiday. The exercise focused on 20 districts in Balochistan (targeting 1.8 million children), 23 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (targeting 3.5 million children), 16 in Sindh (targeting 4.5 million) and six in Punjab (targeting 6.4 million). Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme; Dawn; Times of Oman; Dunya News
Afghanistan conducted a nationwide bOPV from June 3-6, targeting more than 11.2 million children under age 5 in all provinces. At a launch ceremony, the acting public health minister urged “religious scholars, elders, parents and influential people” to support the vaccinators. Xinhua; Polio Free Afghanistan; Ariana News
Two Indian states carried out anti-polio campaigns in June as part of the country’s “Pulse Polio” program. Gujarat launched an exercise on June 23, targeting 8,372,000 children ages 5 and under. Some 133,956 healthcare workers conducted the effort via 33,489 polio booths statewide, with door-to-door outreach taking place June 24-25. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh kicked off its own statewide initiative on June 23 as it sought to immunize 520,000 children under 5 with oral drops. On the first day of the campaign (which reached 76% of the goal), health activists and paramedical and nursing students administered vaccines at 3,600 health booths—set up at strategic locations including railway stations and bus stops—and, on the following day, they carried out a “doorstep drive” to reach remaining children. Economic Times; The Free Press Journal
Angola conducted the second round of a polio immunization campaign June 28-30. Targeting 3,787,544 children under age 5, the campaign enlisted 27,960 health workers and volunteers to administer nOPV2 doses house to house and in fixed posts, including health facilities, markets, churches, schools and nurseries. All districts were targeted in the provinces of Huambo, Luanda, Lunda Norte, Lunda Sul, Malanje, Uíge and Zaire; whereas specific districts were targeted in Bengo (Dande district), Benguela (Benguela, Lobito, Catumbela and Baia Farta districts), Cuanza Sul (Sumbe, Porto Amboim and Cassongue) and Moxico (Luena, Alto Zambeze, Luau and Luacano). Areas were chosen based on reported cases as well as their proximity to the DRC border or Angola’s capital. The campaign’s first round took place in May in response to a confirmed outbreak, per WHO, and reached more than 5.5 million children. WHO Angola
Ethiopia carried out the second round of an anti-polio campaign in the Tigray region beginning June 10. The house-to-house exercise reached 1,768,810 children under 5 (of 1,987,218 targeted) with nOPV2 across a five-day span, followed by two days of mop-up. The first round took place in April. WHO Ethiopia
Liberia on June 7 launched the second round of a nationwide door-to-door anti-polio campaign. The four-day effort aimed to deliver nOPV2 to nearly 860,000 children under age 5 in all 15 counties in the country. The first round took place in May. WHO Liberia (1); WHO Liberia (2); GPEI
The Brazilian municipality of Presidente Prudente ran an anti-polio vaccination exercise June 8-14. The campaign targeted 12,000 kids under age 5, and health officials said a “variety” of other antigens would also be available at health clinics, including flu shots. Portal Prudentino
Outbreak Response
Comoros responded to an ongoing cholera outbreak by launching a vaccination campaign on June 13, with more than 1,300 children on the island of Anjouan—the epicenter of the outbreak—receiving an oral dose of vaccine on the campaign’s first day. The push aims to reach all eligible residents over age 1, some 872,301 people. Le Monde; UNICEF
Integrated Campaigns
Mexico extended an integrated catch-up campaign with a focus on measles to June 30. With an emphasis on MMR (for children between the ages of 1 and 9), MR (for those ages 10-19), and hexavalent vaccine (for kids 2-11 months and 1-4 years), the push also provided vaccines against diphtheria, hepatitis B, HPV, pertussis, pneumococcus, polio, rotavirus, tetanus, tuberculosis and other diseases covered by the essential immunization program. Vaccines were administered in health units, temporary modules, and via home visits. The exercise commenced April 1 and was originally scheduled to end May 31. La Jornada
Local Campaigns
Ghana began an MDA campaign against neglected tropical diseases on June 10. The exercise sought to tackle onchocerciasis in 77 districts (targeting 5.8 million people) and lymphatic filariasis in three districts (targeting 440,000 people). Starrfm
Costa Rica continued its catch-up MMR campaign through the month of June. Launched in April and originally scheduled to end May 24, the extended campaign aimed to vaccinate the remaining 67,906 children between 15 months and 10 years. Before the extension, the effort had reached nearly 500,000 children (88% of its goal). La Nación
Officials on the Philippines’ Luzon island ran immunization exercises against HPV in June. The city of Las Piñas conducted a campaign June 7-9 targeting girls ages 9-14. Elsewhere, Tarlac province sought to vaccinate 1,500 people in the same demographic at a June 5 event at a stadium in the municipality of Capas. Daily Tribune; SunStar