Somali Government in Mogadisho Confirmed That No Polio Cases Seen in Somalia in The Last Three Years!

Photo credit the Guardian

MOGADISHU - Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo praised efforts by the Ministry of Health and partners, UNICEF and WHO to eradicate polio from Somalia, according to a statement released by the office of the President.

Speaking at the National Polio-Free Anniversary, the president said Somalia has remained free of polio the last three years.

"This news is cause for praise and celebration in Somalia, because  Just 3 years ago, we recorded the highest number of new polio cases in the world…now, it's down to zero, thanks to the efforts of the ministry of health and partners”

The reason for this is stepped up preventative measures. The President said the Federal Government would continue with such preventive actions.

"Two drops of vaccine is all it takes to protect against polio……just two drops, I call on all our mothers and parents to make sure that health officials and paramedics are welcomed..and allow our children to be vaccinated against polio”

The ministry of Health has a regular immunization campaign for children under the age of five, efforts that have already shown remarkable results in the fight against polio

President Farmajo assured that the immunization campaign would be expanded to ensure that polio never returns to Somalia again.

According to World Health Organization, Polio was detected in Somalia in May 2013, for the first time in six years, after the parents of a two-year-old girl in Mogadishu found she was unable to walk. 

However the number was contained to just five cases in 2014, one of them an adult who died, all in the remote Mudug region of Puntland, north-eastern Somalia. The last case was reported in Hobyo district, Mudug on 11 August 2014.

The original publication of this article appeared at Horn Observer