WHO launches large-scale polio, measles vaccination campaign in Syria

Coordinated out of Gaziantep, Turkey, nearly 1200 vaccination teams, supported and trained by WHO and the Syria Immunization Group, are fanning out across Idleb and parts of Aleppo, Homs and Hama for the first of 2 rounds of a polio vaccination campaign targeting 7,64,550 children under the age of 5.

The children are receiving oral polio vaccine (bOPV) as well as vitamin A, which boosts their immunity and ability to resist infectious diseases, a WHO statement said.

Since WHO declared an outbreak of polio in eastern Syria about a year ago, 74 cases have been confirmed there. The last diagnosis of the highly contagious and crippling disease was in September 2017.

In the meantime, a spike in measles cases in displacement camps in Idleb and Aleppo governorates since January has spurred an emergency outbreak response to boost the immunity of at-risk children against measles.

Over the past week, 11 WHO health partners have vaccinated over 24,000 children, aged 5-15, in 166 camps. This age group represents over 30 per cent of the 364 measles cases confirmed to date in the displacement camps since January.

These critical vaccination campaigns are funded by the governments of Japan and Norway, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO).

"There have been a number of polio and measles vaccination campaigns throughout Syria aimed at protecting children against the diseases, but ongoing unrest has hindered access to all areas, and ongoing displacement increases the risk of the diseases spreading," says Dr Mostapha Loutfy, an immunisation expert with WHO's Gaziantep field office, who coordinates immunisation programmes in northern Syria with WHO partners.

Many areas, including Idleb and Aleppo, have been void of routine vaccination programmes since the onset of the 7-year Syria conflict.

"This means the majority of children in these areas, born during this period, are unlikely to have been immunised against many preventable and life-threatening diseases," says Dr Loutfy.