Lake Chad Nations Unite To Vaccinate 83 Million Children Against Polio
Princess-Ekwi Ajide
In a powerful show of regional unity, Health Ministers from Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria have launched a landmark synchronised polio vaccination campaign targeting 83 million children under five in the Lake Chad Basin.
The campaign, set to run from April 24 to 28, aims to halt the spread of variant poliovirus type 2, which continues to pose a grave threat across the region.
In the past year alone, 210 detections of the virus were recorded in Cameroon, Chad, Niger, and Nigeria with 140 of them resulting in paralysis.
“This region remains at the heart of our fight against polio. By standing together, we reaffirm our commitment to reaching every last child,” said Chad’s Minister of Health, Dr. Abdelmadjid Abderahim, during the launch in N’Djamena.
The synchronised effort, supported by over 1.1 million frontline workers, will focus on high-risk and hard-to-reach areas, especially along porous borders where virus transmission often thrives.
The campaign is a flagship initiative under the Africa Regional Polio Eradication Action Plan and aligns with African Vaccination Week, themed “Immunisation for all is humanly possible.”
The campaign backed by global partners such as WHO, UNICEF, the Gates Foundation, Gavi, and Rotary International, highlights the power of collaboration in the quest for a polio-free future for all.
