By Health Reporter
AN official with the Ministry of Health and Child Care in Chipinge has revealed that more awareness is required by the public to help market the polio vaccination campaign which Zimbabwe is rolling again early next month.
Ms Exgratia Chidoko, the District Health Promotions Officer for Chipinge District, said this during her presentation at a polio vaccination planning meeting held by Rotary Club of Chipinge. Mikias Gwamanda chaired the meeting which was held at Our Lady of Perpetual Help School in Chipinge today (November 16, 2022).
She then encouraged members of the public to spread the word about the second phase of the Polio Vaccination Program which commences on December 01, 2022.
“The second phase of the polio vaccination campaign will commence from December 01, 2022. We are mainly targeted at vaccinating children under 5 years of age even though polio can affect anyone who is under the age of 15. Zimbabwe rolled out this program after Mozambique and Malawi reported prevailing cases of polio in their countries this year.
“We are targeting 95 percent of children under 5 years of age in Zimbabwe. I am glad to announce that in the first phase, Chipinge managed to vaccinate 89 percent of the children.
“Our worry is with some red zone areas such as Ngaone and Maparadze which did not respond very well in the first phase. Other areas of target that also did not respond well include New Year’s Gift, Mahenye and Zamuchiya,” said Ms Chidoko.
The District Health Promotions Officer further outlined that although her ministry used their staff in health centres to reach out to people, the health personnel were overwhelmed since the areas they covered were larger than their resources.
In response to her presentation, the Assistant Governor of Rotary District 9210 Snapper Mutambara promised that Rotarians shall increase their participation in the second phase since Rotary is involved worldwide in polio prevention programs.