First polio round done and dusted for Morobe

By EREBIRI ZURENUOC
MOROBE has done well to immunise most of its children under five years of age during the polio outbreak response and supplementary immunisation programmes, an official says.
Programme adviser for health Micah Yawing said although Morobe was slow to carry out the emergency response, the province has reached over 100 per cent of the targeted population.
“This is because of the great team work with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef),” he said.
“There are also the Health Department, Morobe administration and all health officials in the province.
“It was a challenge and we faced so many setback but we still managed to get things done.
“Thank you to all of the partners, such as Manalos Aviation for distributing vaccines to remote areas,” he said.
“Despite circumstances with awareness, mothers still brought their children for vaccinations.
“We managed to cover all target groups during the mop-up vaccination drives.”
Yawing said the division was looking forward to the second round of supplementary immunisation to begin at the end of this month.
“First thing we need to do is concentrate on mobilisation and advocacy so that people take ownership,” he said.
“The same children will go for the second round of immunisation. It won’t be hard because everyone is aware of the outbreak.
“There is a good team effort here in Morobe and we will continue on with the other rounds.”
Yawing said mothers who gave birth during the outbreak response – between July and October – should take the babies for routine immunisation.
“After the fourth round of immunisation, there will be routine immunisation of oral polio vaccines, so mothers must make sure their babies receive that,” he said.