The Democratic Republic of Congo has just launched the first phase of its vaccination campaign against poliomyelitis, aiming to protect 924,824 children aged 0 to 59 months against this disease which could invalidate them for life. The chief medical officer of Butembo zone, Bernardin Siviholya, confirmed that poliomyelitis was a very dangerous disease, caused by the wild poliovirus, which has already been declared eradicated in the DRC. However, another vaccine virus persists and causes a succession of epidemics, which justifies the systematic holding of vaccination campaigns against this disease.
The Congolese government is thus organizing a twenty-second vaccination epidemic against polio, because of the 19 indigenous epidemics in the DRC, two come from Angola and one from the CAR. The providers in charge of the vaccination campaign will go door to door to vaccinate all the children within three days and will help comb the area over the next two days to allow those who have missed the call to to be vaccinated.
The mayor of Butembo, MOWA BAEKI TELY Roger, officially launched this campaign, to which the children’s parliament of Butembo and Lubero lent its support. The operation should protect these children from the disability that accompanies this disease and give them a better future