Polio vaccination “highly successful,” say the health ministry

A nationwide polio vaccination campaign in Yemen to control a recent outbreak has been “highly successful”, according to health officials. The figures indicate good coverage, according to Dr Ali Al-Mudhwahi, head of family health at the Ministry of Health (MoH). “The MoH launched its second nationwide campaign on 30 May this year, targeting 11 Yemeni governorates with at least 220 confirmed cases,” he said. He added that the campaign had reached at least 85 percent of the targeted five million children under the age of five. Polio is a highly infectious viral disease that invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis in a matter of hours. The vaccination drive was conducted by the MoH, along with the UNs World Health Organization (WHO), the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and other organisations. The first case of polio in Yemen was discovered on 25 February and a more extensive outbreak was announced in May, al- Mudhawi explained. The delay in confirmation was due to the fact that the nearest available test laboratories were in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the signs of polio are similar to at least three other possible diseases, making identification difficult, he added. Aspects of the vaccination drive have, however, been open to question. Local media reports say that hundreds of families in the governorates of Hodeidah and Sa’ada have refused immunisation. In Hodeidah, a western coastal region and one of the worst hit areas in the outbreak, some local people believe that an earlier routine vaccination round in April was the original cause of the polio cases. In the northern Sa’ada governorate, where an anti-government uprising continues, religious leaders are said to have issued a decree warning locals not to undergo immunisation, which they claim is part of a US/Israeli conspiracy and will render their children sterile in later life. The UN battled against similar resistance in Nigeria in 2003 and the resulting delay in implementing a vaccination initiative was blamed for a current polio outbreak in the country. The virus was said to have spread to Yemen from Nigeria via Sudan. Saudi Arabia has also registered cases and began its own vaccination campaign on 11 June, targeting 400,000 children under the age of five. The Saudi campaign has allocated two million doses of vaccine for western and southern provinces in areas that border Yemen. UNICEF has been made aware of press reports saying that two local doctors from Hodeidah were leading a campaign against polio vaccination of children. Al-Mudhwahi said government officials had gone to meet the doctors to reassure them of the safety and reliability of the vaccines. The health expert described refusals as “not exceeding 2 percent” of the target populations in the governorate in question. He also spoke of the situation in Marib, a region four hours drive east of Sana, where he had personally convinced religious leaders of the vaccination campaign’s validity, following local scepticism over the campaign there. “These religious leaders are now playing an important and active role in mobilising community support for the vaccination campaign,” he said.