On Friday 24th February, Sierra Leone launched its first National Immunisation Days for 2017, which aim to protect all children less than 5 years of age against polio. Routine vaccinations will also be done for children aged 0-23 months.

Polio is a devastating virus, for which there is no cure. It invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis in a matter of hours. It can be prevented through immunization. Given multiple times, the polio vaccine almost always protects a child for life.

“Vaccines are safe and free and critical for saving lives,” said Dr. Chimbaru, Acting Country Representative for the WHO in Sierra Leone, speaking on behalf of UN partners. “Remember, the health of your child is in your hands! Make sure you take your child to get all their vaccines so that they have the best possible chance at life.”

Chimbaru commended health workers, the Government and partners for their tireless efforts in reaching children with lifesaving vaccines, and acknowledged some key achievements in this area in 2016.

• Last year, the country participated in a remarkable synchronised global switch from using trivalent to bivalent oral polio vaccine. This was a major milestone in accelerating the Polio Eradication Initiative and the Polio End Game Strategy, which aims to completely eradicate Polio from the world. According to government data:

• Four rounds of Polio Immunisation Days, targeting children aged 0 to 59 months, achieved on average, coverage of 98%.

• Coverage of the Penta 3 vaccine, which provides protection against five major diseases, increased from 85% in 2015 to 98% as of October 2016.

Chimbaru added however that it is often the most disadvantaged children and communities that are left behind, and that every effort needs to be taken to ensure that all children are reached through immunisation programmes.

3,500 teams have received orientations and training under the programme in 2017, which will target 1,529,000 children aged under-five.

Expanding access and coverage to vaccines has been the result of collaborative efforts by many different partners in Sierra Leone including WHO, UNICEF, GAVI, NGO, health workers and community groups, under the overall leadership and guidance of the Ministry of Health and Sanitation.