Lilongwe Health District Office says despite reaching 1.4 million of children aged between 0 and 15 years during previous vaccination exercise, some children are not vaccinated due to beliefs that people have regarding vaccines.
The statement was made on Friday at a meeting which Lilongwe District Health Office (DHO) organised with Bwaila Media Club on Polio Status and vaccine in Lilongwe.
Polio is an infectious disease caused by Polio virus.Poliovirus infection is highly contagious and is spread through fecal – oral route.
Speaking with reporters, Public Relations Officer for Lilongwe Health District Office Richard Mvula said there are some church believes that misinterpret the vaccine because of the misinformation about the vaccine which result in their members shunning vaccines.
“We will be conducting another phase of Polio vaccination. Our wish is to scale-up vaccination rate. We want to vaccinate all the children, no one should left behind. Everything is in place , we will start our campaign for Polio vaccine on 13 to 16 this month of September . We are mobilising the general public to work together,” he explained
Africa was certified Polio free in 2020. In Malawi , the infectious disease was certified in 2005.
There had been no case from 2005 until last year, 2022 where a 3- year-old in Ntuwa village from Traditional Authority Tsabango in Lilongwe was found with Polio.
