Stop Polio: Media Practitioners Mobilised

Following the discovery of the type 2 polio virus variant in the environment of the Deido health district, media practitioners have pledged to step up awareness campaigns to ensure that all children aged 0-5 in the region are vaccinated to boost their immunity. Media practitioners in the region made the commitment on Monday 21 April during a press conference in Douala. It emerged from the meeting that with the discovery of the type 2 polio virus variant, the region and the nation are at risk, hence the need for concerted efforts to ensure that children are vaccinated from 24 to 27 April for the first round and from 29 May to 1 June for the second. According to the Coordinator of the Expanded Immunisation Programme for the Littoral Region, Dr. Ewane Leonard, the campaign is nationwide, reasons why it is called the National Immunisation Days. "The campaign will run from Thursday 24 April to Sunday 27 April 2025. The second round will also run from 29 May to 1 June 2025”, he explained. He stressed that the campaign is important because cases have been detected in different regions of Cameroon. And this time there are two cases in the littoral region, specifically in the Deido health district, where it has been detected in humans, but it's polio that has been detected in the environment", which means that we have a polio variant, so we need to respond to strengthen the immunity of children". He recalled that the vaccination teams will go door-todoor, to schools, churches and mosques, to the various health centres, parks, streets and other public places. For his part, James Longsi, Public Health Specialist and Head of Communication Unit, Littoral Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI), said they were working to achieve a 95 per cent i...