Uganda is set to immunise about eight million children below the age of five during the polio vaccination campaign which kicks off today.
There is a big number of unvaccinated and under vaccinated children under five years,” she said.
The Unicef representative in Uganda, Dr Mohamed El Munir A. Safieldin, said one of Uganda’s greatest achievements over the past 20 years has been the ability to keep a huge number of children alive.
He added that back in 2000, Uganda’s mortality rate for children under five years was 151 deaths per 1,000 live births.
He added that protecting children against vaccine-preventable disease requires having the right quantities of vaccines at the right time.
Gavi, the vaccine alliance donated equipment worth $8.3 million, which include 1,311 solar-powered fridges, 124 on-grid fridges, five walk-in cold room mono-blocks and196 vaccine carriers.
Last year in August 2021, Uganda announced that there was a polio outbreak in the country after samples on faecal matter collected from Lubingi tested positive. »