Egypt launches 4-day polio vaccination campaign nationwide – minister

The Egyptian Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel Ghaffar has launched on Sunday a massive free-of-charge four-day national vaccination campaign against polio, according to an official statement.

Abdel Ghaffar added the campaign aims to vaccinate 16 million children against the disease, as it targets both Egyptian and non-Egyptian resident children under the age of five years.

The campaign will continue until 14 December in all the governorates, at the ministry’s offices and health units and it will also afford medical personnel going door-to-door from 8am to 5pm to ensure that all children receive the vaccination.

The minister has indicated the possibility of extending the campaign to guarantee that all targeted children receive vaccination, the statement explained.

He stressed that the medical teams are composed of 90,000 highly trained and well-equipped individuals to carry out the campaign.

Egypt has been declared polio-free since 2006 in accordance with the standards set by the World Health Organisation (WHO), with the last case recorded in 2004.