The National Council for Universal Health Coverage (CN-CSU) is organizing, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and other partners, the 3rd national forum on vaccination and polio eradication. This meeting will be held in Kinshasa on June 27 and 28, 2023. Its objective will be to report on the situation of the polio epidemics that have taken place in certain provinces of the country, as well as to reinforce the commitment of the authorities and partners. for the vaccination coverage of all children against this disease.
The CN-CSU coordinator, Doctor Polydore Mbongani Kabila, recalls that since 2021, polio epidemics have affected certain provinces, such as Haut-Lomami and Tanganyika, because of a virus which would derive from the vaccine, and that we must act quickly to deal with it. He specifies that vaccinated children are not affected, but that the virus can be reactivated on non-vaccinated people in their entourage. A collective effort is therefore necessary to vaccinate all children, a sine qua non condition to definitively eradicate this disease.
The forum will also strengthen the campaign conducted through the Kinshasa Declaration and the Mashako 2.0 plan to relaunch systematic vaccination in the DRC. The objective is to guarantee, by 2024, vaccination coverage of at least 80% for children before their first birthday.
This event is therefore an opportunity to recall the importance of vaccination and raising public awareness of diseases preventable by vaccination. The DRC can thus continue its march towards the eradication of polio, for the benefit of all the children of the country.