COVID-19: Worst yet to come for Africa, says WHO

Africa has just lived through its most devastating week of the pandemic, but the worst is yet to come as the third wave gathers pace on the continent, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

“Africa has just marked the continent’s most dire pandemic week ever. But the worst is yet to come as the fast-moving third wave continues to gain speed and new ground,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO’s regional director for Africa.

Cases are doubling every 18 days, compared with every 21 days only a week ago, she said during a virtual press conference, adding that “the end to this precipitous rise is still weeks away.”

Coronavirus cases have been rising in Africa since the start of the third wave on the continent on May 3. During the week ending July 4, more than 251,000 new Covid-19 cases were recorded on the continent,  a 20% increase over the previous week and a 12% jump from the previous January peak.

Sixteen African countries are now seeing a resurgence of the virus, with the more contagious Delta strain detected in 10 of them.

South Africa is the worst-hit country in Africa, with new daily infections hitting record highs of 26,000 cases over the weekend, fuelled by the Delta variant.

Vaccination rates remain sluggish, with only 16 million people, 2% of the African population, fully vaccinated.

But Moeti said there was some room for optimism because vaccine deliveries were picking up after grinding to a near halt in May and early June.

“Our appeals for ‘we first and not me first’ are finally turning talk into action. But the deliveries can’t come soon enough because the third wave looms large across the continent,” she said.

Africa has so far received 66 million doses and has administered 50 million of them.

Moeti urged governments to expand vaccination sites and take other measures to take advantage of the vaccine deliveries when they come.

According to latest figures, Africa has officially registered  5,730,638 cases and 147,125 deaths from Covid-19.

AFP

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Kenya receives 1.02 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine

Over 1 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine part of 24 million doses country expects to receive within months

 

NAIROBI, Kenya — Kenya has received just over 1 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in the first batch from the global COVAX initiative that was created to ensure that low- and middle-income countries have fair access to vaccines.

Some 1.02 million doses of the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, arrived in Nairobi early Wednesday, according to a joint statement from UNICEF, the World Health Organization, international vaccine alliance GAVI and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations.

Kenyan Health Minister Mutahi Kagwe expressed excitement and optimism that the vaccines would help stop the spread of the coronavirus that has forced the East African country to partially lock down its economy with devastating consequences for many citizens.

“We have been fighting the pandemic with rubber bullets but what we have acquired today is equivalent, metaphorically speaking, to bazookas and machine guns,” Kagwe said.

The minister said the vaccines will be administered to some 400,000 medical workers and the rest will go to other frontline workers such as teachers and police officers.

Many Kenyan public health care workers have been disgruntled over the inadequate supply of personal protective equipment, and they say they were never paid the allowances that the government promised them for the extra work and risk while combating COVID-19.

Austine Oduor, an official with the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers, said there is no palpable excitement from members of his union and nurses who were forced by a court order to resume work last week after a 70-day strike.

“What they really wanted was payment of the allowances,” Oduor said. “ In fact, some are questioning whether the distribution will be done fairly in a country where corruption is rampant.”

Kenya has more than 106,000 confirmed virus cases including more than 1,800 deaths.

 

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WHO assures support for Nigeria on COVID-19 vaccines

The World Health Organization (WHO) has assured Nigeria that it will support the country procure, distribute and administer COVID-19 vaccines.

Speaking during a press briefing in Nigeria’s capital Abuja on Saturday, WHO Country Representative Walter Kazadi Mulomboo, said that Nigeria and other Africa countries were not disqualified from accessing COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX facility, the WHO-led initiative for equitable global access to coronavirus vaccines, to meet the urgent vaccination needs of developing countries.

The assurance was in response to rumors that the WHO disqualified Nigeria from COVID-19 vaccines based on the country’s inability to meet the standard requirement of storing the vaccines at the required -70 degrees Celsius.

Earlier, senior Nigerian officials had noted that the country was hoping to get more than 40 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to cover one-fifth of its population through the global COVAX scheme in 2021.

According to Mulomboo, WHO is supporting all countries to access the vaccines as quickly as possible, and all countries on the continent are expected to start accessing the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine by the end of February, noting that the vaccine is under WHO review for emergency use listing, and the outcome is expected soon.

“Of all the 88 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses allocated to African countries for the first phase, Nigeria has received by far the largest allocation, with 16 million doses,” he said.

Also at the press briefing, Faisal Shuaib, director-general of Nigeria’s National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA), said that several factors were considered in allocating the small quantity of vaccines in the initial stage to COVAX countries.

These include the mortality rates from COVID-19, the number of new cases, the trend in the number of cases, the population of countries, and the availability of the appropriate cold chain equipment, Shuaib said.

The latest figures by the Nigeria Center for Disease Control indicate that the country registered 1,588 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 139,242 and total deaths to 1,647.

 

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Yellow fever claims 172 lives In Nigeria: WHO

A yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria has killed 172 people so far, the WHO said. - AFP/File

A yellow fever outbreak in Nigeria has killed 172 people so far, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said Friday.

The outbreak poses an extra challenge to the country's health system as Africa's most populous nation deals with the Covid-19 pandemic, several concurrent disease outbreaks and a humanitarian crisis in the northeast, the WHO said.

Nigeria has been battling successive yellow fever outbreaks since 2017. This latest outbreak was detected in November, WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva.

"As of November 24, the outbreak has been reported in five states in Nigeria: Delta, Enugu, Bauchi, Benue and Ebonyi," he said.

"A total of 530 suspected cases have been reported, including 48 that have been confirmed by lab testing.

"A total of 172 deaths have been reported out of those 530 suspected cases."

He said sample testing was ongoing through national reference laboratories.

The spokesman said Nigerian national and state authorities were focused on the Covid-19 pandemic response, limiting the human resources required to conduct investigations and response activities for the yellow fever outbreaks.

Capacity has been increased in certain hospitals to help manage patients who develop yellow fever symptoms and complications.

Currently, 16 of Nigeria's 36 states and the federal capital territory have completed vaccination campaigns.

Six more are expected to do so in the first quarter of 2021, with a further six set to do so by the end of next year, bringing the total to 28, the WHO said.

The percentage of people immunised against yellow fever remains low in many parts of Africa, even though the vaccine is nearly 100 per cent effective and relatively cheap.

There is no specific treatment for yellow fever, which is largely transmitted in urban settings by mosquitoes.

Nigeria, like the rest of Africa, has so far been spared the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic but authorities are wary of a fresh wave.

So far, more than 68,300 cases of Covid-19 have been registered, and 1,179 deaths.

 

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Brazil’s president, Bolsonaro, threatens to cut ties with WHO

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro. PHOTO: EVARISTO SA/AFP/Getty Images

President Jair Bolsonaro threatened Friday to withdraw Brazil from the World Health Organization, following in the footsteps of his US counterpart, Donald Trump, accusing it of “ideological bias.” 

“I’m telling you right now, the United States left the WHO, and we’re studying that, in the future. Either the WHO works without ideological bias, or we leave, too,” the far-right leader told journalists outside the presidential palace.

Sometimes called a “Tropical Trump,” Bolsonaro has followed a similar script to the US president in his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, downplaying its severity, criticizing state authorities’ stay-at-home measures and touting the purported effects of the drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19. 

Trump announced a week ago he was terminating the United States’ relationship with the WHO, accusing it of bias in favor of China, with whom his administration has clashed over the origin and handling of the pandemic. Bolsonaro said it was no coincidence that days later, the WHO reversed its decision to suspend clinical testing of hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19. The WHO had suspended trials of the drug after major studies raised concerns about its safety and effectiveness against the new coronavirus — irking Trump, a hydroxychloroquine fan who even took the drug himself as a preventive measure.

On Thursday, most of the authors of the studies that appeared in The Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine retracted their work, saying they could no longer vouch for their data after the firm that supplied it refused to be audited. The WHO has resumed trials of the drug, which is traditionally used against auto-immune diseases and malaria. 

Bolsonaro, however, put the reversal down to the WHO losing its more than $400-million annual contribution from the United States, its biggest funder. 

“Trump cut their cash, and they back-tracked on everything,” he said. “Chloroquine is back.” He made the statements shortly before Brazil announced its death toll in the coronavirus pandemic had risen above 35,000 — though, in a change of format, the health ministry stopped reporting the total number of people killed, providing only the figure for the past 24 hours. Brazil has the third-highest death toll in the pandemic, after the US and Britain. 

The country of 212 million people has now confirmed more than 645,000 cases of the virus. Experts say under-testing means the real numbers are probably far higher.

[AFP]

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Wear face masks in public, says WHO in new coronavirus advice

The World Health Organisation Friday changed its advice on face masks amid the coronavirus pandemic, saying they should be worn in places where the virus is widespread and physical distancing is difficult.

The use of face masks has been a hot topic ever since the pandemic first emerged in China in December. “In light of evolving evidence, WHO advises that governments should encourage the general public to wear face masks where there is widespread transmission and physical distancing is difficult,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. 

In areas with community-level virus transmission, “we advise that people aged 60 years or over, or those with underlying conditions, should wear a medical mask in situations where physical distancing is not possible”, he added. 

But the UN health agency stressed that facemasks alone “will not protect you from COVID-19” — and people suffering with the virus should not be out in public if they can avoid it. The WHO maintained its recommendation that people who are sick with COVID-19 symptoms should stay at home and if it is absolutely necessary for them or their contacts to leave home, they should wear a medical mask. As before, those caring for an infected person at home should wear a medical mask when in the same room; and health workers should wear medical masks plus protective equipment when dealing with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients.

But in an update affecting healthcare workers, the WHO now recommends that in areas with widespread virus transmission, all people working in clinical sections of a health facility should wear medical masks — not just those dealing with patients with COVID-19. 

– Three-layer facemask – 

The WHO also issued new guidance on the composition of non-medical fabric masks for the general public, advising that they should consist of at least three layers of different material. The inner layer should be made of a water-absorbent material such as cotton, the middle layer — which acts as a filter — from a material like non-woven polypropylene, while the outer layer should be a water-resistant material such as polyester. 

The WHO’s emergencies director Michael Ryan stressed that putting on a fabric mask is primarily about preventing the wearer from possibly infecting others, rather than self-protection. “It’s an altruistic act,” he said. And Tedros stressed that masks were only one part of an effective strategy to suppress the virus — and should not lure people into a false sense of security. He said they were not a replacement for physical distancing and hand hygiene. 

“Find, isolate, test and care for every case, and to trace and quarantine every contact. That is what we know works. That is every country’s best defence against COVID-19.” The novel coronavirus has infected at least 6.7 million people and killed more than 390,000 since the outbreak first emerged in China last December, according to a tally from official sources compiled by AFP.

[AFP]

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WHO to resume chloroquine coronavirus clinical trials

 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced Wednesday that clinical trials of the drug hydroxychloroquine will resume as it searches for potential coronavirus treatments.

On May 25, the WHO announced it had temporarily suspended the trials to conduct a safety review, which has now concluded there is “no reason” to change the way the trials are conducted.

The UN health agency’s decision came after a study published in The Lancet medical journal suggesting the drug could increase the risk of death among COVID-19 patients.

The executive group of the so-called Solidarity Trial — in which hundreds of hospitals across the world have enrolled patients to test several possible treatments for the novel coronavirus — took the decision as a precaution.

Hydroxychloroquine is normally used to treat arthritis but public figures including US President Donald Trump have backed the drug for COVID-19 prevention and treatment, prompting governments to bulk-buy.

“Last week, the executive group of the Solidarity Trial decided to implement a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm of the trial, because of concerns raised about the safety of the drug,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news briefing.

“This decision was taken as a precaution while the safety data were reviewed.

“The data safety and monitoring committee of the Solidarity Trial has been reviewing the data.

“On the basis of the available mortality data, the members of the committee recommended that there are no reasons to modify the trial protocol.

“The executive group received this recommendation and endorsed continuation of all arms of the Solidarity Trial, including hydroxychloroquine.

 

“The executive group will communicate with the principal investigators in the trial about resuming the hydroxychloroquine arm of the trial.

“The data safety and monitoring committee will continue to closely monitor the safety of all therapeutics being tested in the Solidarity Trial.”

More than 3,500 patients have been recruited across 35 countries to take part in the trials.

 

[AFP]

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WHO warns coronavirus could kill thousands in Africa, as Burundi expels experts

COVID-19 could infect a quarter of a billion people in Africa and kill 150,000 within a year, a WHO model has projected. Amid rising death tolls, Burundi expelled experts from WHO, drawing international condemnation.

The novel coronavirus could kill 150,000 people in Africa over the next year unless "urgent action" is taken, researchers warned in a regional report from the World Health Organization (WHO) released Friday.

The study, published in the journal BMJ Global Health, modelled likely rates of exposure to the virus in 47 African countries. 

Researchers predicted that around 22% of Africa's population of 1 billion will be infected within a year, with around 37 million symptomatic cases. This could result in around 150,000 deaths.

While the modelling showed an overall lower infection rate in Africa compared to Europe and the US, experts warned that health systems there could quickly become overwhelmed.

The study predicted around 4.6 million COVID-19 hospitalizations, with 140,000 severe cases requiring oxygen and another 89,000 needing breathing support. 

"Interruption of its transmission to prevent widespread community transmission is critical because its effects go beyond the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths and affect the health system capacity to provide other essential services," the report read. 

The outbreak could result in the diversion of medical resources away from health issues already present in region, such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, and malnutrition. For this reason, African countries could see higher fatality rates among relatively young people, researchers said.

"The region will have fewer deaths, but occurring more in relatively younger age groups, amongst people previously considered healthy -- due to undiagnosed non-communicable diseases," the report said, adding that these trends could already be seen emerging.  

Highest-risk countries

Using risk of exposure and vulnerability indexes, researchers were also able to derive infection probabilities for individual African state. 

The results showed the largest number of overall infections occurring in Nigeria, Algeria and South Africa, with Mauritania, Seychelles and Eritrea recording the fewest overall cases. 

However, in terms of per capita infections, Mauritius, Seychelles, and Equatorial Guinea were positioned to have the highest proportion of their populations affected. 

Action must be taken now

The study encouraged the use of non-pharmaceutical measures as the best approach to counting the outbreak. 

"The effect of avoiding widespread and sustained community transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is significant, and most likely outweigh any costs of preventing such a scenario," researchers wrote. 

They called for swift improvements to healthcare facilities, with an emphasis on primary hospitals increasing patient capacity.

WHO expelled from Burundi

Burundi's Foreign Ministry on Thursday expelled WHO experts, accusing them of "unacceptable interference in [Burundi's] management of the coronavirus."

Burundi is preparing for presidential and parliamentary elections next week. The public health experts had criticized the government's decision to dismiss social distancing recommendations aimed at preventing the spread of "coronavirus during the electoral campaign."

The UN Commission of Inquiry on Burundi said it "deeply regretted the recent decision by the government to declare persona non grata the country representative of WHO and three of its experts."

Burundian human rights activist Pacifique Nininahazwe told DW that there had been tensions between the government and WHO due to "the opaque management of the coronavirus crisis in Burundi."

"It's not that surprising," Nininahazwe said of the decision to throw out the WHO experts. "The relationships between Burundi and the international community are very, very bad since the 2015 (political crisis)."

When asked about expulsion, Burundi's Vice President Gaston Sidimwo told DW: "I don't really know anything about this decision," adding that he was currently campaigning in the country.

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Burundi orders WHO team responsible for managing COVID-19 to leave country

Burundi has ordered the expulsion of the country’s top World Health Organization (WHO) representative and three other experts coordinating the coronavirus response, the foreign ministry said in a letter seen by AFP on Wednesday.

In a letter dated May 12 and addressed to WHO’s Africa headquarters, the foreign ministry said the four officials “are declared persona non grata and as such, must leave the territory of Burundi” by Friday.

The directive expels WHO’s top official in Burundi, Doctor Walter Kazadi Mulombo, the country’s coronavirus coordinator Doctor Jean Pierre Mulunda Nkata, communicable diseases head Doctor Ruhana Mirindi Bisimwa, and a laboratory expert in the testing for COVID-19, Professor Daniel Tarzy.

“It is the whole WHO team responsible for supporting Burundi in its response against COVID-19,” a Burundian official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“They are expelled and the health minister has totally excluded WHO, accusing it of unacceptable interference in its management of the coronavirus.”

The letter does not provide a reason for the decision. Diplomatic and administrative sources told AFP the foreign ministry aborted a similar attempt to expel the same four officials a month ago.

The announcement comes just days before Burundians go to the polls on May 20 to choose a new president, parliamentarians and local officials.

[AFP]

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WHO says no proof from US on ‘speculative’ Wuhan lab virus claims

 

The World Health Organisation, WHO, said Monday that Washington had provided no evidence to support “speculative” claims by the US president that the new coronavirus originated in a lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

“We have not received any data or specific evidence from the United States government relating to the purported origin of the virus, so from our perspective this remains speculative,” WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan told a virtual briefing.

[AFP]

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Coronavirus kills 5,000, hits 123 countries, 132,000 cases – WHO

The World Health Organisation (WHO) says more than 132,000 cases of Coronavirus have now been reported to WHO, from 123 countries and territories.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said this at a media briefing on Friday in Geneva.

The D-G said 5,000 deaths have been recorded worldwide.

“Europe has now become the epicenter of the pandemic, with more reported cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China”.

He disclosed that more cases are now being reported every day than were reported in China at the height of its epidemic.

The coronavirus broke out in Wuhan, China.

“We are encouraged that many countries are now acting on the eight pillars of WHO’s Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan.

“Most countries now have a national plan; most are taking a multi-sectoral approach and most have laboratory testing capacity”, the WHO chief added.

Ghebreyesus said the world body continues to support countries to prepare and respond.

“We have shipped supplies of personal protective/equipment to 56 countries, we are shipping to a further 28 countries, and we have sent almost 1.5 million diagnostic tests to 120 countries.

“Our message to countries continues to be: you must take a comprehensive approach. Not testing alone. Not contact tracing alone. Not quarantine alone. Not social distancing alone. Do it all.

“Any country that looks at the experience of other countries with large epidemics and thinks “that won’t happen to us” is making a deadly mistake. It can happen to any country,’’ he said.

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Coronavirus: WHO puts Nigeria, others on alert as death toll hits 56

Says no positive change in situation globally

By Luminous Jannamike

As death toll from the new coronavirus hits 56 globally, World Health Organisation, WHO, has warned Nigeria and other member countries to be ready to deal with possible outbreak of the disease in their territories.

In a statement on Sunday, Tarik Jasarevic, WHO’s spokesman, said nearly 2,000 cases of patients have been confirmed since the disease originated in China last month.

He noted that the virus had spread to United States of America, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, Australia, France and Canada; and called for timely detection and management of any outbreak, especially in the Africa region.

Jasarevic said: “WHO’s risk assessment of the new coronavirus has not changed.

“The risk of spreading the infection is very high in China, it is high at the regional level and it is moderate at the global level.

“It is, however, expected that further international exportation of cases may appear in any country, especially in sub-saharan Africa.

“Thus, all countries should be prepared for containment, including active surveillance, early detection, isolation and case management, contact tracing and prevention of onward spread of 2019-nCoV infection, and to share full data with WHO.”

The apex health body maintained that the first confirmed cases of the disease in Europe were not unexpected.

“They remind us that the global nature of travels exempts no country from infectious disease spread.

“This also means that no country can afford postponing the establishment of all necessary measures to protect their people,” it stated.

WHO added that members of its International Health Regulations Emergency Committee have agreed on the urgency of the situation, and suggested that it would reconvene in a matter of days to examine the situation further.

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WHO postpones decision on declaring coronavirus as global health emergency

World Health Organisation (WHO) on Wednesday postponed taking a decision on whether the mysterious coronavirus that killed at least 17 people and sickened hundreds of others in China a global health emergency.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said physicians need more information and asked the committee which he is leading, which held an emergency meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday to reconvene on Thursday.

Tedros told roughly 150 reporters on a conference call that was delayed for almost two hours while the committee met that “today, there was an excellent discussion during the committee meeting, but it was also clear that to proceed, we need more information.”

Tedros said the emergency committee on Wednesday was split on whether to designate the illness a global health emergency, noting that “WHO has researchers in China collecting data.

“The decision about whether or not to declare a public health emergency of international concern is one I take extremely seriously, and one I am only prepared to make with appropriate consideration of all the evidence.”

Chinese authorities said many of the patients with the new illness, (Coronavirus) had come into contact with seafood and meat markets, suggesting the virus is spreading from animals to people.

WHO physicians said they found evidence of human-to-human transmission within close contacts, citing family members, and within a health-care environment and that the virus was stable and not showing any kind of unusual activity.

WHO defines a global health emergency, also known as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, as an “extraordinary event” that is “serious, unusual or unexpected.”

The Coronavirus that emerged from Wuhan, China, had spread throughout Asia, infecting more than 540 people in China, Thailand, Taiwan, Japan and the Republic of Korea, according to WHO and Chinese state media.

The U.S. had also confirmed its first case on Tuesday, a Washington state man who was travelling in China, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, said.

Meanwhile, Lawrence Gostin, a professor and faculty director of the O’Neill Institute for National & Global Health Law at Georgetown University, said “WHO does not enact emergencies easily. The international health agency only applied the emergency designation five times since the rules were implemented in mid-2000.

“The last time WHO declared a global health emergency was in 2019 for the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo that killed more than 2,000 people.

“The agency also declared global emergencies for the 2016 Zika virus, the 2009 H1N1 swine flu and the 2014 polio and Ebola outbreaks.”

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Ghana Health Service and Partners launch polio vaccination campaigns in Ghana

REPORT from World Health Organization

Country Representative of WHO, Dr Owen Kaluwa vaccinating a baby

The Ghana Health Service (GHS) has launched series of vaccination campaigns against polio outbreak to prevent the spread of the virus in high risk areas among children under five. The first phase which is termed ‘round zero’ would ensure that children in all districts in Greater Accra who are eligible, are vaccinated from September 11 to 14th.

The polio outbreak response campaign comes after the health sector confirmed three events of circulating vaccine derived polio virus type 2 (cVDPV2) from 8 July this year. Two of the samples testing positive for cVDPV2 were from environmental surveillance: one each from Koblimagu in Tamale Metropolis (Northern Region) and Agbogbloshie in Accra Metropolis (Greater Accra Region) in July and August this year. The third isolate was confirmed in a sample from a 2 year 9-month old girl in Chereponi District (North East Region) who developed Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) in July this year. Dr Anthony Nsiah Asare, Director General of the GHS, who launched the campaign on 11th September 2019, said teams of health workers and volunteers would move from house to house, schools, markets, lorry stations, churches and mosques to vaccinate all eligible children under 5 years.

He said there would also be fixed posts at health facilities, regular weighing centers and other designated areas during the four day vaccination period. He said the Service intends to carry out round one of the campaign from September 25 to 28 in all districts in the Northern, North East, Savanna, Upper East and Greater Accra Regions. “Round two, scheduled for 16-19 October this year would also cover all districts in the Northern, North East, Savanna and Upper East Regions,” he said. The Service has according to Dr Nsiah Asare planned a nationwide vaccination campaign which would use inactivated polio vaccine (IPV), for all children born from January 2016 to June 2018 in all districts across the country later this year. He said the vaccination was free of charge saying: “I wish to assure the general public that the vaccine is safe and effective to prevent type2 polio and protect children from the disabling and potentially deadly disease, hence the effort to encourage all parents and caregivers to ensure their children under 5 years of age are vaccinated during these exercises”. The Director General thanked the media and all who have contributed to bring Ghana this far in the journey to eradicate polio.

Dr Owen Kaluwa, the World Health Organization (WHO) Country Representative, said it is very prudent for children in Agbogbloshie and all parts of Accra, to be vaccinated against polio; a disease that can kill or cripple infected persons for life. “On Thursday 29 August 2019, a polio virus was identified in the Agbogbloshie environment and this puts the live of all persons in this market and the whole of Greater Accra at risk of polio especially children who are less than 5 years old,”. The vaccination campaign in Greater Accra Region, he said, presents an opportunity for children to be protected against this deadly disease. Dr Kaluwa called on the media, to create awareness and generate demand for the vaccination campaign. He said the WHO together with partners, will provide the needed support to the country to ensure the success of the effort.

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