Monday February 17, 2025
A Somali health worker administers the oral polio vaccine to a young child during a nationwide immunization campaign targeting 2.5 million children under the age of five.Credit: UNICEF Somalia
Mogadishu (HOL) — Somalia has launched a four-day nationwide polio vaccination campaign to immunize 2.5 million children under five as health officials intensify efforts to halt a lingering outbreak.
Led by the Federal Ministry of Health and Human Services, with support from the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the campaign targets high-risk regions, including Jubaland, Hirshabelle, Southwest, Galmudug, and the Benadir Regional Administration. Health workers will go door-to-door administering the novel oral polio vaccine (nOPV2) in an attempt to curb the spread of circulating variant type 2 poliovirus, which has persisted in Somalia since 2017.
The country remains one of seven “consequential geographies” identified by the Global Polio Eradication Initiative due to persistent outbreaks and challenges in delivering vaccines amid insecurity and weak health infrastructure. Other regions flagged as high-risk include Afghanistan, Pakistan, Mozambique’s Tete province, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, northern Yemen, and northern Nigeria.
“Polio is a devastating disease, but one that we can prevent,” said a Somali health official. “With sustained vaccination efforts, strong community engagement, and the support of our partners, we can stop its spread and protect every Somali child.”
Somalia has made progress in expanding vaccine coverage, but gaps remain. Last year, health workers reached 600,000 children who had never received a single vaccine dose, a fraction of the estimated 1.5 million at risk. The latest campaign seeks to build on those efforts while reinforcing the country’s broader immunization strategy.
The Somali government recently established a national task force on immunization and polio eradication to accelerate disease eradication, chaired by Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre. Health authorities have also announced plans to introduce pneumococcal and rotavirus vaccines later this year to combat pneumonia and diarrhea, which remain leading causes of child mortality in Somalia.
