The blue box Amina carries with her has a large red “End Polio” sticker and it can carry up to 20 vaccine vials, nestled between the ice packs. The result of these efforts has helped the programme significantly reduce the number of refusals across the country. At this settlement, occasional announcements were made through the mosque, informing people that a polio campaign was taking place and encouraging them to vaccinate their children. This has helped address vaccine hesitancy and reached more children, building their immunity against this debilitating disease. The polio programme has a long history of systematically listening to community concerns and addressing them, often engaging influencers such as religious leaders, to underscore the safety and efficacy of polio vaccines. When they see me taking these drops, it helps us build confidence with them.” I often take the drops myself to show them how safe the vaccines are. “Sometimes parents are skeptical about the vaccine and don’t want us to vaccinate their children. “It is not always this straightforward,” says Amina. On leaving the house, Amina takes out her chalk and marks the door of the house with key information that will mention what day they visited, the number of children under five in the house and if there was any child with symptoms of acute flaccid paralysis. If this information is incorrect, it can impact the overall operational coverage data for the campaign. “You can show this incase anyone asks if you got the polio drops.”Īmina, on the other hand, fills out the tally sheet that she will later submit to her supervisor. She talks to the little daughter and asks her to open her mouth and gives her two drops from the vial.Īfter giving the drops, she marks the girl’s little finger. Inside it are ice packs and vials of oral polio vaccine. The father responded back energetically, “Of course, you can! I want my child to grow up healthy!” “Can I give them the polio drops?”, asks Salma. The father confirms that in this round, his children did not receive any polio drops. Salma introduces herself and her team member Amina and asks the father if either of their children had received polio drops that day. © WHO/EMROĪ tall man with a three-year-old boy in his arms, opens the door and welcomes the two vaccinators. Do you have children under five at home?” Polio vaccinators. “Polio team,” responds Salma who speaks Pushto. “Who is there”, asks a man from inside the house, in Pushto. The story looks at three important components of a campaign: vaccinators, vaccines and tally sheets. In this article we take you to an Afghan refugee settlement in Islamabad, one of the 30 districts that were covered partially and where the outbreak response focused on mobile and cross-border populations. In a matter of weeks, a response was planned and implemented, vaccinating around 6.37 million children from 13 – 17 February. In January, when Pakistan detected a positive wild poliovirus from a sewage sample with genetic links to the virus circulating in Afghanistan, the polio teams jointly conducted a detailed epidemiological investigation to trace the routes of virus movement and identify infected populations. Eight teams of two vaccinators each are already on their way, each starting their day from the farthest house in the community and making their way to the center. The voice announces that a polio campaign is taking place in the settlement and vaccinators will be coming to give two drops to children under five. Islamabad – An announcement over a loudspeaker from the mosque captures the attention of parents and their children.
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