Cross Border Polio Campaign Targets 40 Million Children

This article describes the joint efforts of polio vaccination teams working in Afghanistan and Pakistan to synchronise immunisation campaigns on both sides of the border. Consecutive immunisation drives were set to take place in early August, during which Pakistan planned to vaccinate 33.5 million children under the age of five, following a three-day campaign in Afghanistan that planned to to reach another 7.3 million children.



The polio eradication initiative is spearheaded by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World
Health Organization (WHO) and the associated Ministry of Health (MOH) in each country. Due to the high volume of cross-border movement between Afghanistan and Pakistan, public health experts are viewing the countries as one continuous epidemiological block. According to Melissa Corkum of UNICEF Pakistan, "People travelling between the countries can easily carry the virus across the border and there is evidence of virus sharing between the two countries. Therefore it is critical to immunise those children on the move between the two countries and to ensure strong cross border coordination during the supplementary immunisation campaigns."



The collaboration between countries is seen as proof of both government's resolve to eradicate the disease. The comprehensive nationwide campaigns involve vaccinators travelling from house to house, as well as positioning at strategic checkpoints such as train stations, bus stations and airports in order to reach mobile populations. A meeting of campaign planners from the border districts held in advance of the campaign aided in ensuring synchronised planning and community mobilisation.

According to a WHO spokesperson, the southern region of Afghanistan continues to be particularly
problematic, with vaccination teams unable to reach approximately 100,000 children there. To date, there have been 11 newly confirmed cases of polio in Pakistan and 5 confirmed cases in Afghanistan in 2007.