UNICEF pledges support for Kenya's polio immunisation programme

Nairobi: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has expressed commitment to supporting Kenya's national immunisation programme in eradicating the polio outbreak in the country.

UNICEF Representative to Kenya Shaheen Nilofer said that the programme has maintained an average vaccine coverage rate of 85 per cent to reach the 88 per cent vaccination target.

"We have made great strides in Kenya toward eradicating polio, but we must do more. We must reach the last 1 per cent. No one is safe unless everyone is safe," Nilofer said in a statement issued on Thursday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to mark World Polio Day.

According to UNICEF, the current polio outbreak in Kenya is being driven by a combination of factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted many routine vaccination services and the health system that is still recovering.

The UN agency said climate change also has impacted immunisation programmes in Kenya, with cyclical droughts and floods displacing children and their families as well as destroying health centres where routine immunisation services are delivered, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We have a plan to address the threat of polio, and the plan is simple and safe: We must vaccinate all children against polio," Nilofer said.

The statement came after Kenya's Ministry of Health said on October 19 that at least 3.71 million children were vaccinated against polio in the government's latest drive to stop the disease.

The ministry said that the vaccination took place in nine counties deemed as vulnerable, including Nairobi, amid plans to roll out the second vaccination drive on November 9-13.

UNICEF said population movements and immigration from the long-lasting conflicts in neighbouring Somalia and South Sudan, together with congestion in refugee camps such as Dadaab and Kakuma in northern Kenya, lead to the prolonged circulation of polio.

"Poor hygiene and sanitation in the camps make this worse since the virus is spread through oral and nasal secretions and contact with contaminated feces," the agency said.

Polio is a disabling and life-threatening disease caused by poliovirus, which can infect a person's spinal cord, leading to paralysis, according to the health ministry.

Every year on October 24, World Polio Day is observed to raise awareness of the importance of polio vaccination to protect every child from this devastating disease and to celebrate the many parents, professionals, and volunteers whose contributions make polio eradication achievable.