<\/p>\n
The Federal Ministry of Health is implementing the campaign with support from the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children\u2019s Fund (UNICEF) and other partners.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sudan has confirmed poliovirus infections in six children and detected the virus in three wastewater samples during 2026.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Transmission began in December 2024, while conflict has reduced access to routine immunisation and other essential health services. \u201cThis mass vaccination campaign aims to boost every child\u2019s immunity against poliovirus to protect them from an ongoing outbreak,\u201d Sudan Federal Minister of Health Dr Heitham Mohammed Ibrahim said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The first phase, running from October 26 to October 29, targets 6 million children younger than five across 107 localities in 12 states.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Another 5 million children will be vaccinated in 79 localities across the five Darfur states and West Kordofan during the first week of November.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The eligible age group has been extended to children younger than 10 in Darfur because older children have lower immunity. \u201cThe success of the campaign depends on the concerted efforts of health workers, volunteers and the community,\u201d Ibrahim said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The campaign will cover 186 localities across 18 states, with a second national vaccination round planned one month after the first. \u201cIn a country where conflict has disrupted essential health services and left many children without routine vaccinations, protecting children from polio is more urgent than ever,\u201d WHO Representative in Sudan Dr Abdinasir Abubakar said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Vaccination efforts are being coordinated with Chad, Ethiopia and South Sudan to reduce cross-border transmission among mobile populations.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Vaccinators stationed at Sudan\u2019s border transit points will immunise children moving between the four countries.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In localities bordering South Sudan, vaccinators will provide two oral vaccines to protect children against the type 2 variant circulating in Sudan and the type 1 outbreak in South Sudan. \u201cNo child in Sudan should suffer from a disease that can be prevented through vaccination,\u201d UNICEF Acting Representative in Sudan Angela Kearney said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Kearney called on health workers, communities and humanitarian partners to help reach every eligible child, including children living in conflict-affected and difficult-to-access areas.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–WHO\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":43935,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-49492","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Sudan has launched a nationwide vaccination campaign targeting 11 million children as conflict and disruption to healthcare fuel the spread of variant poliovirus.","published_date":"","news_description":"Sudan has launched a nationwide vaccination campaign targeting 11 million children as conflict and disruption to healthcare fuel the spread of variant poliovirus.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/49492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/49492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49526,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/49492\/revisions\/49526"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=49492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}