Blantyre District Health Office says it has included street-connected children as one of the targeted groups in the administration of oral polio vaccine to children below five years old.

Director of Health Services for Blantyre district, Dr. Gift Kawalazira said in addition to a door to door method of polio immunization to be administered from 21 to 24 March, the office will also make sure that all children are reached regardless of where they are found.

Dr. Kawalazira said: “In addition to a door to door campaign, we will also cast our net wider to make sure more children are reached and these include those who are found in the streets as they have no permanent place to stay.”

He further said 240, 463 children are targeted for the oral polio vaccine in the district.

He has therefore urged all parent and guardians to ensure that their children have received the dose to ensure they are protected from the disease which has resurfaced in the country.

“Polio is a dangerous disease whereby some children can develop what we call paralysis where they fail to move their legs, arms and limbs because it affects the central nervous system so we need to sensitize the community more especially parents to bring forth their children to receive the vaccine,” he said.

Ministry of Health will administer the oral polio vaccination to 2.9 million children country wide.

The country declared an outbreak of wild poliovirus type 1 after a case was confirmed in a 3-year-old girl in Lilongwe.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), this was the first case in Africa in 5 years while globally, there were only five cases in 2021.