Uganda has started the second round of the polio vaccination campaign, the country's health ministry said in a statement on X.
"The second round of the Polio Vaccination campaign has kicked off in 49 Districts. Just 2 drops of the Polio Vaccine protects your child for life," the ministry wrote.
The ministry added that free vaccination is carried out among children aged five and below. According to the statement, health workers will visit all homes in 49 districts of the country till Sunday.
According to the ministry of health, the first round of the campaign was carried out on October 3-6 and also included house-to-house vaccination. The campaign is related to the polio outbreak in Mbale city that started in May.
Earlier, the World Health Organization said that between October 3 and 6, over 6.5 million children were vaccinated against polio in Kenya and Uganda. According to Charles Korir, a coordinator in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, led by the WHO, a current outbreak in Eastern Africa is caused by heavy movement of high-risk populations between countries.
Back in August 2020, the entire continent and Uganda were declared free of wild-borne polio virus by the WHO.
In 2006, Uganda was certified free of all Polioviruses by the WHO. Yet, according to the Ugandan Health Ministry, in 2009 and 2010, multiple cases of infection were recorded in Mayuge and Bugiri towns in the eastern part of the country. One of the latest outbreaks of the infection was registered by the ministry in mid-August 2021.