The Minister of Health, Hala Zayed, launched the national campaign for vaccination against poliomyelitis on Sunday. The campaign targets children who are new-borns till the age of five for all children in Egypt including non-Egyptian children, free of charge.
According to a statement from the ministry of health, the campaign targets 16.5 million children in order to keep Egypt safe from poliomyelitis. During her visit to Port Said for launching the campaign, Zayed said that the vaccination is 100% safe and the World Health Organisation is monitoring the campaign.
Zayed added that the last registered case of poliomyelitis in Egypt was 14 years ago, pointing out that the ministry is implementing regular medical campaigns against poliomyelitis through annual vaccination campaigns to ensure raising the immunity of children.
The vaccination will be carried out at homes in the rural regions in order to reach all the targeted kids, however, in urban regions, vaccinations will be done by both mobile teams, and fixed teams in the medical centres, health offices, as well as in mother and child centres.
Vaccination will be oral using 19m doses, and about 90,000 healthcare providers will participate in the campaign.
On Saturday, Zayed announced that the ministry has conducted 93,000 surgeries as part of the presidential initiative for finalising waiting lists.
