Gambia commits to maintaining polio-free status

The 1st round of the campaign is scheduled to take place between March 6 and March 9 2010 while the 2nd round would hold between April 24 and April 27, 2010. It is important, says the Health ministry, that all parents ensure that their children between ages 0 and 5 are presented for vaccination as unvaccinated children are more susceptible to childhood illnesses. Officials will move from house to house to administer the vaccine to all children within this age range.

According to Alhagi Omar Taal, deputy permanent secretary at the Health ministry, The Gambia will join18 other West and Central African countries to organize this year’s National Immunization Days (NIDs). He said this yesterday at a press conference held at the ministry’s Conference Room. He said the NIDs will feature synchronized activities spearheaded by the World Health Organization (WHO) with support from UNICEF and Rotary International. These activities are aimed at breaking the chain of transmission of the wild polio virus in anticipation for the global Polio Eradication Initiative (PEI). He noted that the global PEI was declared by the World Health Assembly in 1988.

Alhagi Taal said the country has done a lot in the global PEI, as it has conducted 12 successful immunization campaigns since 1998 with high immunization coverage supplemented and active surveillance for any wild polio virus importation. He observed that the key surveillance and immunization coverage indicators have been very good for the past years, and there has been no importation of the wild polio virus. “This is as a result of the high immunization coverage the country has been achieving over the years and active surveillance in order to detect any wild polio virus. The routine Oral Polio Vaccine 3 (OPV3) coverage for the past years has been above 90 percent for all the regions in the country. As a result of this great effort, The Gambia was declared polio free since 2004,” he said.

Speaking further, Mr. Taal credited the government, development partners and enthusiastic parents for the success recorded. He noted that the country continues to implement the National Plan for Prevention and Control of Wild Polio virus importation. According to him, it is important to reinforce efforts and sensitize communities to detect and swiftly respond to polio virus. This is necessary to maintain the already gained polio-free status.
In recounting some of the key facts about polio, he said: “Polio kills or cripples mainly children. The signs and symptoms can be mainly fever, which can quickly progress into weakness of the limbs and the affected limbs remain paralyzed for life.”

According to the health official, there is no cure for polio as of now, but it can be prevented through vaccination. He noted that polio vaccine is safe and free of charge, adding that this year, an estimated 381,134 children will be vaccinated during the NIDs. Noting that the NIDs is a strive towards kicking polio out of The Gambia so that the millions of dalasi the government and its partners spend on polio vaccination could be spent on other national developmental issues. He said the NIDs are meant to supplement the routine immunization programme, stressing that children must be vaccinated even if they had completed their routine vaccination schedule and they must continue with their routine vaccination even after the NIDS.

Yamundow Lowe Jallow, programme manager of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) underscored the need for the country to be committed in maintaining its polio free status. She said they are still receiving reports of polio cases from neighboring countries and thus recognized the need for The Gambia to conduct the NIDs campaign. According to her, The Gambia last recorded a polio case in 1986, and that over the years, all the cases they received were proven negative after examination.

She also described the media as a key partner in helping to disseminate the NIDs information to the general public, urging them to sensitize the public more and spread the message of polio prevention and the success registered in eliminating the disease in the country.

Kebba Gibba, EPI desk officer for WHO in The Gambia said neighboring countries like Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea Conakry and Mali among other countries are still encountering polio cases, and the WHO has thus deemed it fit to spearhead the campaign. He noted that despite the fact The Gambia is declared polio free nation, it is still important for the country to partake in the campaign.