Featured Stories
Nepal’s Rupani Rural Municipality conducted an innovative oral cholera vaccination (OCV) campaign in May in which vaccine recipients self-administered their second doses as part of a feasibility study. Aiming to reach 28,000 people in the country’s southeastern region, the effort was led by the nonprofit International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and partners, who provided the first dose of Euvichol-Plus (the OCV developed by IVI). IVI
Outbreak Response
Mozambique declared a wild poliovirus outbreak on May 18 after confirming that a child in the northeastern Tete province had contracted the disease, marking the country’s first case of wild poliovirus in 30 years. The case represents the second wild polio outbreak in southern Africa in 2022: in mid-February, Malawi declared on outbreak that, like the Mozambique case, was linked to a strain circulating in Pakistan. In response to the earlier outbreak, Mozambique had recently carried out two mass vaccination campaigns, reaching 4.2 million children. Efforts are currently underway to help strengthen disease surveillance in Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The five countries will continue mass vaccinations, with plans to reach 23 million children ages 5 and under with polio vaccine in the coming weeks. WHO Mozambique
Malawi kicked off the first round of a cholera vaccination effort on May 23, aiming to reach 1.9 million people ages 1 and older in eight southern districts: Balaka, Blantyre, Chikwawa, Machinga, Mangochi, Mulanje, Nsanje and Phalombe. The second round is scheduled for two to six weeks later. The country has received 3.9 million doses of OCV from the global emergency stockpile to use as an emergency response to an outbreak that started in March. WHO Malawi; The Nation
South Sudan’s Juba county is preparing to run an anti-cholera drive targeting at least 667,000 people age 1 and older with two doses of OCV. So far, 2 million doses have been secured for seven hotspot counties in the region (Awerial, Duk, Juba, Kapoeta North, Rubkona, Panyijia and Yirol East). An additional 1 million OCV doses have been requested from the global stockpile for preventative campaigns in six high-risk counties (Guit, Leer, Mayendit, Mayom, Panyijiar and Pariang). WHO South Sudan
Local Campaigns
Pakistan conducted its second nationwide polio vaccination campaign May 23-27: 340,000 frontline workers aimed to reach 43.3 million children under age 5 with oral drops and Vitamin A supplements in a house-to-house effort. The five-day event commenced after officials confirmed the country’s third wild polio case of 2022 on May 14. By May 27, additional cases were confirmed from North Waziristan. Before this year’s six cases, there was a 15-month gap of no reported cases in the country.
Various Pakistani provinces implemented security measures to protect polio workers from violence during the campaign. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, police accompanied vaccination teams, and various districts prohibited tinted glass in vehicles and carrying and displaying firearms during the duration of the campaign. In Sindh, around 5,000 security personnel—including police and federal rangers—were deployed, and the provincial government is also considering establishing a separate security force for polio vaccination drives. PPEP (1); PPEP (2); ABC News; ITN; Urdu Point
Ghana launched a mass drug administration drive against lymphatic filariasis (LF) and onchocerciasis on May 28. The nationwide campaign—which will run until June 12—aims to reach 12.6 million people in 77 oncho-endemic districts and 440,000 in four LF-endemic districts in the country. Ghana News Agency
Afghanistan began the fourth round of a nationwide polio vaccination campaign on May 23, aiming to reach 9.9 million children under age 5 with oral polio drops and Vitamin A supplements. Khaama Press News Agency; Xinhua
Zimbabwe ran an anti-NTD mass drug administration (MDA) in April in 43 districts. During the seven-day MDA—which ran from April 3-9—drugs to treat schistosomiasis and soil-transmitted helminthiases (intestinal worms) were administered to at least 1.8 million children ages 5-15. NewsDay
The Philippines held a two-day pediatric vaccination campaign against preventable diseases such as hepatitis B, polio, measles, mumps and rubella from May 26-27. Chikiting Bakunation Day aimed to provide routine and catch-up immunization for all children age 2 and younger, including at least 80% of the approximately 1.1 million infants who have missed routine immunizations since 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. SunStar Manila
Gabon ran a national measles vaccination drive April 26-30, aiming to reach almost 300,000 children under age 5 in the provinces of Estuaire, Haut-Ogooué, Moyen-Ogooué, Ngounié, Ogooué-Maritime and Woleu-Ntem. Vitamin A supplementation was also administered during the five-day campaign. Archnewsy
Palestine conducted the first round of a preventative polio vaccination effort May 16-18, targeting all children under age 5 in Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The campaign is responding to the detection of circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 3 (cVDPV3) in sewage outflow in Wadi Alnar. OPV drops were offered at maternal and child centers and UNRWA centers during the three-day event. The second round of the campaign will take place in June. GPEI
Ireland announced that it is planning an HPV vaccine catch-up campaign for all secondary school students who did not receive the shot during their first year and young women under age 25 who have left secondary school and did not receive the vaccine when they were eligible. Irish Prime Minister tweet; Ireland DoH