Central Darfur children to be vaccinated against polio

Today, a polio vaccination campaign will begin in all localities of Central Darfur.

Limya Mohamed El Doma, the director of the Central Darfur Vaccination Department told Radio Dabanga from the capital Zalingei on Sunday that the campaign will be conducted from 28 to 30 November.

She explained that the polio vaccination campaign is targeting children between one and five years old. Infants from six months to one year old will receive Vitamin A supplements.

The doctor appealed through Radio Dabanga to the people to respond to the campaign, and “help eradicate polio and the Vitamin A deficiency in Central Darfur”.

In April this year, the Sudanese government and the UN Children Agency (Unicef) launched a nationwide polio vaccination campaign targeting four million children under the age of five. The children in conflict-torn areas in Blue Nile, South Kordofan, and Darfur could not be reached at the time.

Sudan has been polio-free since 2009. However, on the occasion of the World Polio Day, on 24 October 2015, the Unicef representative in Sudan warned for a possible polio outbreak, as polio virus circulation in the Horn of Africa keeps the country at risk, and parts of the three war-affected areas have not been accessible by aid groups for years.