New five-year vaccination strategy

The Djibouti government is to adopt a five-year strategy to improve vaccination coverage against diseases such as polio across the country, according to a senior government official. "The time to expand the vaccination campaign is now," Abdallah Abdilahi Miguil, the Health Minister, said at a workshop in the capital, Djibouti City, over the weekend. While the average number of vaccinated children had risen to more than 80 percent, he added, the threat of polio remained serious, especially after cases were reported in neighbouring Somalia. The emergence of 202 cases of polio in Somalia in 2005 ended the country's three-year status as polio-free. Health officials warned recently that ongoing vaccination campaigns in Somalia had to be sustained to prevent a possible spread to neighbouring countries such as Djibouti. Djibouti has undertaken vaccination initiatives against polio since 1988 and its last reported case was in 1999. Despite logistical constraints, its polio-eradication campaign is considered a success, with up to 95 percent of all children in the capital, Djibouti City, vaccinated. The five-year programme, the minister added, would be implemented from next year. It would also see the introduction of vaccines against hepatitis and meningitis, and mandatory health cards for school-going children to show that the child had been vaccinated. Participants said the main challenge to vaccination programmes was poor communication and the need for greater resources, adding that the introduction of new vaccines would raise the overall immunisation budget. More equipment such as refrigeration would be required alongside more resources for training and awareness-raising. According to health experts at the meeting, previous campaigns had been undermined by rumours that vaccines increased infertility in women. The rumours had also affected Djibouti's campaign against HIV/AIDS. Poliomyelitis ("polio") is caused by the polio virus, which enters the body orally and infects the intestinal lining. It may enter the bloodstream and the central nervous system, causing muscle weakness and often paralysis. Last year, the United Nations-backed Global Polio Eradication Initiative launched a campaign to vaccinate more than 34 million children in the Horn of Africa against the virus, covering eight countries - Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen and parts of Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. oh/mw/eo