Visionary Reports

The second-round campaign was launched in Mabanda on May 28, targeting children aged 0-5 years, and will run from May 29 to June 1.

The campaign, which includes the Mother and Child Care Nutrition Week, was officially launched in Mabanda Douala IV by Littoral regional Governor Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboa.Authorities in the region have redoubled their efforts to ensure all targeted children get vaccinated. This year’s campaign has witnessed renewed determination following the discovery of a polio variant in the environment of the Deido health district.During the launch, Governor Samuel Dieudonné Ivaha Diboa urged parents to bring out their children for vaccination, emphasizing that collaboration between health officials and the community will lead to huge success. He reminded everyone that children are the future and must be well cared for. He took time off to vaccinate some children as a way forward.International partners, including WHO and Helen Keller, elaborated on their efforts to help eliminate polio and other diseases. For the country director of Helen Keller International Prof. Robert Mba highlighted that the integrated approach, which places mother and child at the heart of public health priorities is the way forward.As an organization committed to promoting child nutrition and health in Cameroon for nearly 30 years, Helen Keller focuses its support on combating malnutrition and vitamin A supplementation. He reaffirm their full commitment alongside the Ministry of Public Health and all partners to ensure that they achieve the goal of supplementing at least 95% of children aged 12 to 59 months.He added that capsule administered is a preventive measure, a barrier against serious forms of infection, and an increased chance of survival for our children. “Yet, despite the progress made through biannual campaigns, we now face a major challenge: making this intervention routine so that no child is overlooked between two campaigns” he noted.

From May 29 to June 1, vaccination teams will visit public and private homes, schools, churches, mosques, parks, markets, streets, and other human gatherings. The population has been called upon to open their doors and accompany the vaccination teams to ensure that children are vaccinated.The campaign will feature oral polio vaccination for children aged 0-5 years, Vitamin A supplementation for children aged 1-5 years,Preventive and intermittent treatment against malaria for pregnant women, Catch-up vaccinations for children who missed routine immunization appointments, Intensified surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases, including poliomyelitis, measles, yellow fever, and neonatal tetanus.

By GINA ESONG