October 2023: Kenya launched the second phase of a vaccination campaign against polio

Kenya launched the second phase of a vaccination campaign against polio on October 7, targeting 3.1 million children under age 5 in high-risk counties. The 10 counties included in the five-day effort were Garissa, Kajiado, Kiambu, Kitui, Lamu, Machakos, Mandera, Nairobi, Tana River and Wajir; four of these were also targeted in the first phase (Garissa, Kajiado, Kiambu and Nairobi), taking place in August. That initial phase exceeded its 1.8 million-child target, reaching some 1.96 million children. According to Xinhua, Kenya has detected two additional cases since the six confirmed polio cases detected in June among children in Garissa county’s Hagadera refugee camp. According to an MoH official, the country is currently recruiting and training 100,000 community health promoters to strengthen response efforts. Capital News; Xinhua