{"id":13856,"date":"2024-04-17T23:33:11","date_gmt":"2024-04-17T23:33:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=13856"},"modified":"2024-04-20T09:38:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-20T09:38:22","slug":"somalias-health-ministry-and-partners-plan-to-intensify-efforts-to-end-7-year-variant-poliovirus-outbreak","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2024\/04\/17\/somalias-health-ministry-and-partners-plan-to-intensify-efforts-to-end-7-year-variant-poliovirus-outbreak\/","title":{"rendered":"Somalia\u2019s health ministry and partners plan to intensify efforts to end 7-year variant poliovirus outbreak"},"content":{"rendered":"

MOGADISHU —<\/strong> Somalia\u2019s Minister of Health and Human Services His Excellency Dr Ali Haji Adam and high-level representatives of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative met virtually yesterday to review progress and further scale up efforts to end the country\u2019s 7-year variant poliovirus outbreak.<\/p>\n

H.E. Dr Adam presented the Somalia Emergency Action Plan (SEAP) 3, which builds on measures taken so far and will fill existing gaps in polio eradication efforts. The plan prioritizes robust, high-quality polio vaccination campaigns and better poliovirus surveillance. Efforts will also be targeted at high-risk populations in hard-to-reach areas and where variant poliovirus is circulating, as well as underserved, displaced and nomadic communities.<\/p>\n

The Minister also shared updates on the planned Big Catch-up campaign, which aims to accelerate vaccination of zero-dose children \u2013 who have received no vaccines \u2013 and capitalize on integration with other health and nutrition services.<\/p>\n

Meeting delegates included Dr Chris Elias, Chair of the Polio Oversight Board and President of Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Mr John Vertefeuille, Director, Global Immunization Division, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Ms Patience Musanhu, Senior Country Manager, Country Programmes Delivery at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; Ms Etleva Kadilli, United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa; and Dr Hamid Jafari, Director, Polio Eradication, World Health Organization (WHO) Eastern Mediterranean Region. Ms Wafaa Saeed Abdelatef, UNICEF Representative in Somalia, and Dr Reinhilde Van de Weerdt, WHO Representative to Somalia, also joined the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cStopping poliovirus transmission is one of our government\u2019s top priorities,\u201d said H.E. Dr Ali Haji Adam, Minister of Health and Human Services for Somalia. \u201cWe are deeply committed to providing our children better access to vaccines that protect them from polio and other easily preventable diseases, alongside other essential health and nutrition services.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ongoing variant poliovirus outbreak, the longest running of its kind, has so far paralysed 38 children in Somalia. Through SEAP 3, Somalia will continue to work with humanitarian partners to reach about 1.5 million zero-dose children, most of whom live in the country\u2019s highly populated central and southern areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe applaud the Government of Somalia for their progress in eradicating polio and increasing access to immunization for all people living in Somalia. With continued commitment and momentum, Somalia will stop transmission of polio, improve immunization coverage, and enable a healthier society,\u201d said Dr Chris Elias, Chair of the Polio Oversight Board and President of Global Development, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.<\/p>\n

Somalia is seen as one of the world\u2019s 6 most critical locations for polio transmission, known as consequential geographies, owing to the high risk of poliovirus spread to other countries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe commend the dedication of Somalia\u2019s leadership towards urgently preventing any further transmission and spread of polio, currently the only public health emergency of international concern,\u201d said Dr Hamid Jafari, Director, Polio Eradication, WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region. \u201cWe call on all humanitarian and development agencies in Somalia to support the government in its critical endeavours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are grateful for the government\u2019s commitment and leadership that has started to revitalize efforts towards polio eradication,\u201d said Ms Etleva Kadilli, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa. \u201cThe upcoming Big Catch-up vaccination campaign is a great opportunity to accelerate progress and narrow the chronic immunity gap. Reaching unvaccinated children is challenging and strong leadership at the federal and state levels is crucial to Somalia\u2019s efforts to eliminate vaccine-preventable diseases. UNICEF stands by at all levels to support the efforts of the Somali people and government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somalia is also currently grappling with a measles outbreak. The country faces complex challenges, including recurrent drought, floods and persistent insecurity, which have affected health service delivery and spurred population movement over the years.<\/p>\n

Source: SMN\u00a0 \u00a0 Origin: View original<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MOGADISHU — Somalia\u2019s Minister of Health and Human Services His Excellency Dr Ali Haji Adam and high-level representatives of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative met virtually yesterday to review progress and further scale up efforts to end the country\u2019s 7-year variant poliovirus outbreak. H.E. Dr Adam presented the Somalia Emergency Action Plan (SEAP) 3, which …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-health-cluster","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13856"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13858,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13856\/revisions\/13858"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}