![[Tajikistan] WFP school feeding programme in Tajikistan.](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20045244.jpg.webp?itok=5QiuerzJ "Anti-polio drive widens")
Tajikistan is gearing up for a new round of anti-polio immunizations for children aged between six and 15, according to the Ministry of Health, in a bid to stem the outbreak.
“We can already see the results of the first [round of the] campaign – for children under six. The number of confirmed cases is not increasing so fast as it was in the beginning of the outbreak [in April],” deputy health minister Azamjon Safolov told IRIN in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.
The new round will be implemented in two phases in early and mid-June.
More than 1.1 million children have been immunized in the May campaign. The vaccines were provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for free.
“On 28 May, 6.3 million doses of anti-polio vaccine are coming to Tajikistan as aid from WHO and UNICEF [for the next round],” Safolov said.
“As of 22 May, we have 129 confirmed cases of Type-1 poliovirus and 437 people have been hospitalised, mostly children, including the confirmed cases [of polio],” Safolov said.
On 9 May, WHO said there were 56 laboratory confirmed cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) - of whom 52 were children under six.
According to the latest epidemiological update on polio from Tajikistan by WHO on 21 May, of the 129 confirmed poliomyelitis cases, 27 (21 percent) are younger than one, 80 (62 percent) are one to five, 15 (12 percent) are six to 14 years, and 7 (5 percent) are 15 years or older.
Meanwhile, the governments of neighbouring Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have strengthened surveillance and begun or will soon begin vaccination campaigns, WHO said. Together with its international partners, WHO has deployed expert teams to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to help strengthen surveillance and to support national and sub-regional vaccination activities.
In Uzbekistan, 29 cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), the most common sign of acute polio but also associated with a number of other pathogenic agents, have been reported since January, according to WHO. So far, 23 have been laboratory negative and six are pending laboratory results. The national polio immunization campaign aims to reach almost 2.9 million children under five years.
rk/at/mw
“We can already see the results of the first [round of the] campaign – for children under six. The number of confirmed cases is not increasing so fast as it was in the beginning of the outbreak [in April],” deputy health minister Azamjon Safolov told IRIN in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe.
The new round will be implemented in two phases in early and mid-June.
More than 1.1 million children have been immunized in the May campaign. The vaccines were provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for free.
“On 28 May, 6.3 million doses of anti-polio vaccine are coming to Tajikistan as aid from WHO and UNICEF [for the next round],” Safolov said.
“As of 22 May, we have 129 confirmed cases of Type-1 poliovirus and 437 people have been hospitalised, mostly children, including the confirmed cases [of polio],” Safolov said.
On 9 May, WHO said there were 56 laboratory confirmed cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) - of whom 52 were children under six.
According to the latest epidemiological update on polio from Tajikistan by WHO on 21 May, of the 129 confirmed poliomyelitis cases, 27 (21 percent) are younger than one, 80 (62 percent) are one to five, 15 (12 percent) are six to 14 years, and 7 (5 percent) are 15 years or older.
Meanwhile, the governments of neighbouring Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan have strengthened surveillance and begun or will soon begin vaccination campaigns, WHO said. Together with its international partners, WHO has deployed expert teams to Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan to help strengthen surveillance and to support national and sub-regional vaccination activities.
In Uzbekistan, 29 cases of acute flaccid paralysis (AFP), the most common sign of acute polio but also associated with a number of other pathogenic agents, have been reported since January, according to WHO. So far, 23 have been laboratory negative and six are pending laboratory results. The national polio immunization campaign aims to reach almost 2.9 million children under five years.
rk/at/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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