Over 200, 000 children aged five years and below have been targeted for vaccination against polio in a massive campaign that started on Saturday in Kilifi County.
Speaking while officially launching the campaign at Kilifi County Referral Hospital on Monday, the County Executive Committee member for Health, Dr. Anisa Ahmed Omar dispelled rumours that vaccinations for children and women are meant to introduce family planning measures.
She said the government is in its last stage in the campaign to totally eradicate polio in the country and urged all women in the county with children under five to ensure they availed them for the exercise.
“We recently launched the campaign against Human Papilo Virus (HPV) for all girls aged 10 years so that we could prevent the dreaded spread of cervical cancer. This and many other campaigns we carry out are meant for preventive measures against incurable diseases and not for purposes of family planning,” she said.
Dr. Omar called upon health workers involved in the campaign to traverse the remote parts of the County in a bid to meet the targeted group and rid off the area of possible cases of polio outbreak in the future.
She called on residents to abide by public health campaigns on issues of sanitation, emphasising that toilets are paramount for every homestead insisting that the disease could be spread through contamination by human waste.
By Harrison Yeri
