The mass anti-polio campaign has smoothly gone well in Kiambu despite opposition from the Catholic Church leadership calling for a temporary stop to the exercise.
Sub-county Public Health Officer John Munyui has urged residents to avail all children aged below five years for the exercise as the safety of the jab is guaranteed.
Speaking on Thursday during the exercise in the outskirts of Kiambu, Munyui said the country’s Poisons and Pharmacy Board and the World Health Organisation (WHO) are reputable bodies that cannot allow poisonous substances to be administered to the young children.
The officer said parents and guardians of targeted children should ignore calls by the Catholic Church which is demanding that the exercise be shelved till the Ministry of Health and the church carry out a joint test on the vaccine.
He said the stakeholders have a responsibility to undertake social mobilisation in their respective areas to ensure the 10-day exercise set to end next week attains the administrative target of 95 per cent.
“In this first round of the campaign we intend to vaccinate over 25,500 children across the sub-county. 47 teams are engaged in the exercise and we also have personnel administering the vaccine in all our health facilities,” he said.
He said the frequent mass campaign has proved to be the most effective method of reaching a large number of children within a short time frame.
“The intention is to increase population immunity against the virus in children aged five years and below. My appeal to parents is that they should avail their children either at home or take them to the nearest health facility,” he added.
He said the country’s border counties polio risk is still high hence the need for vaccination campaigns to guarantee the country a polio-free status.