MoHS announces new shift in immunization campaign

By Kemo Cham

[First published on www.politicosl.com] The Ministry of Health has announced a major shift in its approach to immunization campaigns ahead of the forthcoming mass vaccination against polio.

The new approach which aims at widening coverage of the targeted population means that henceforth it will be engagement of community stakeholders, including parents, rather than mere sensitization, an official said Wednesday.

Sierra Leone is set to embark on the third round of mass polio immunization from this Friday, September 30 to Monday, October 3.

The exercise is part of the routine mass vaccination recommended by the World Health organization (WHO).

“As part of our social mobilization effort we are now focusing on letting communities take ownership, we want to be proactive so that no child is missed,” said Gandi Kallon, Social Mobilisation Officer at the Ministry of Health and Sanitation (MoHS).

Kallon told a partners meeting held at the offices of the health campaign NGO Focus 1000 that the new approach also seeks to create demand for services while at the same time raising awareness.

Polio is a viral disease that mostly affects children. Its symptom is sometimes presented in the form of paralysis. But doctors say it is also fatal when its affects organs such as the heart.

According to WHO, 1 in 200 infections leads to irreversible paralysis, and that among those paralysed, 5% to 10% die when their breathing muscles become immobilized.

The virus is often transmitted from one person to another, mainly through the faecal-oral route. Experts say it is also, albeit less frequently, transmitted via contaminated water or food.
The virus multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and causes paralysis.
Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs.
As at this moment there is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented by immunization.

According to the UN health agency guidelines, countries are supposed to conduct mass vaccination three times in a year. Children under-five are targeted.

In Sierra Leone the first two campaigns this year were conducted in February and in April.

Figures produced by the MoHS show that in the last campaign in April, 70.6 percent of the target children population was reached. This segment’s target is 80 percent for the Western Area and 90 percent for the national target. Western Area is considered a hard-to-reach area due to many factors, hence the 10 percent below the national target.

The task is to cover the remaining 9.4 percent, Kallon, who is attached to the District Health Management Team in the Western Area, said.

“Our role as social mobilizers is that we are forbearers of message. What we give out determines the outcome of what’s expected,” he added, stressing that the new approach required that there is thorough awareness raising before the campaign, targeting special community stakeholders to help disseminate the messages.

Focus 1000 operates as an umbrella body of several grassroots member organizations across all spheres of life, from market women, religious leaders, to traditional healers and the media. This makes the group strategic in this campaign.

Religious leaders were therefore singled out for their dominant effect on the populace and asked to use their pulpits and other worshiping centers to pass on the information about the vaccination exercise that begins this Friday.

During the last campaign, the number of children targeted through traditional leaders which include religious leaders and traditional healers as source of information was found to be 8.9 percent. The target has now been set at 15 percent.

The new assignment is hardly new and all that’s needed is for the partners to adjust their engagement, said Dr Samuel Abu Praatt, Director of Programmes at Focus 1000.

Globally efforts to eradicate polio transmission have been delayed three times. The first target was set for 2005, the world missed it. Then it was set for 2010 and then 2015.

Nigerian, Pakistan and Afghanistan, known as the Wild Polio Virus reservoirs, are the only polio endemic countries in the world today.

So far this year, there have been three cases involving in Nigeria, where the terrorist organization Boko Haram has frustrated efforts to reach the mainly northern parts of country. This way Nigeria is holding back Africa’s chance of being declared Polio free sometime next year.

Pakistan and Afghanistan have reported 14 and 9 cases each, respectively so far this year.

Sierra Leone last recorded a polio case in 2010. While this should be a good news, officials have warned against complacency.

Unlike Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Sierra Leone doesn’t have political problem that stifle efforts of vaccinators, but there is apathy among some communities which has made health officials and activists worried.

Like Ebola, just one case of the polio virus can reverse a country’s status, and health experts say with the world so interconnected, transmission can very easy.

Also the attitude of health workers who administer the vaccine is a major concern. They often are reluctant to reach hard and difficult terrains, leaving out many parts of the city of Freetown, especially hilly areas. All these concerns came up during Wednesday’s discussion with calls on the MoHS to devise a way of addressing them.