Around 3.4 million vaccine doses were administered in the third round of the national mass vaccination campaign. Enock Banda is a vaccinator at Thotho, a waterlocked and mountainous area in the Northern part of Malawi and he shares his experience in what it takes to reach every last child with polio vaccine during the campaign.
Around 3.4 million vaccine doses were administered in the third round of the national mass vaccination campaign.
Moving Minds Multimedia/Malawi
Thotho is an area located on the shores of Lake Malawi in Nkhata Bay district. It is categorized as hard to reach as it is only accessible through Lake Malawi. The area has no health facility that Thotho community must travel to the mainland to seek healthcare. A boat ride to the mainland is estimated at 2 hours for a regular boat and 50 minutes for a speed boat.
During the polio vaccination campaign, Nkhata Bay District Hospital transfers polio vaccine vials to Thotho on daily basis via boats
Moving Minds Multimedia/Malawi
Malawi kicked off the third round of vaccination against wild poliovirus type 1 on 11 August 2022 to protect all under-five children and halt the devastating virus from spreading. During the polio vaccination campaign, Nkhata Bay District Hospital transfers polio vaccine vials to Thotho on daily basis via boats. This is so because the area has no electricity and refrigerators to maintain cold chain storage of the vaccine. Enock had to ensure that he administers all the vaccines that were sent to him for each day to reduce vaccine wastage.
“I know I work in one of the hard-to-reach areas in Malawi, but I am committed to see that every last child in my area is reached with the polio vaccine.”
Moving Minds Multimedia/Malawi
Enock’s target is to vaccinate almost 300 children in the four round polio vaccination drive in Malawi. The multiple vaccination rounds aim to interrupt the circulation of the poliovirus by immunizing every child under 5 years with oral polio vaccine regardless of previous immunization status. Throughout the four days of the national polio vaccination campaign, Enock worked over 10 hours each day to ensure that all children in Thotho are protected from poliovirus. Enock was the first man in-collecting parcel of vaccine vials at the shore in early mornings, and the last man out- finishing work after sunset when all vials are finished.
During the polio vaccination campaign, Enock works an average of 10 hours ensuring that every child targeted child is reached with the life saving polio vaccine
Moving Minds/Malawi
Enock recognizes that it is a huge task to deliver the polio vaccine door to door due to the topography of his catchment area. However, he is committed to the course to see every child in his area, protected from poliovirus, a disease that causes permanent paralysis.
“My strategy was to bring the vaccine to the people and ease movement of caretakers. Besides Thotho being hilly, the settlement is also dispersed but I was determined to move door to door to ensure that no child is missed,” said Enock “My goal is to break record that a hard-to-reach area has delivered a quality polio vaccination campaign.”
“My strategy was to bring the vaccine to the people and ease movement of caretakers. Besides Thotho being hilly, the settlement is also dispersed but I was determined to move door to door to ensure that no child is missed,” said Enock “My goal is to break record that a hard-to-reach area has delivered a quality polio vaccination campaign.”
Administering polio vaccination to all eligible children
Moving Minds/Malawi
Malawi declared a wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) outbreak in February after detecting a case, the country’s first wild poliovirus case in 30 years. Neighboring Mozambique has also four confirmed wild poliovirus cases.
The cases detected in Malawi and Mozambique do not alter Africa’s certification as free of wild poliovirus – an achievement declared in 2020 – because the virus strain is not indigenous. Laboratory analysis linked the strains detected in Malawi and Mozambique to a strain circulating in Pakistan’s Sindh Province in 2019.
The cases detected in Malawi and Mozambique do not alter Africa’s certification as free of wild poliovirus – an achievement declared in 2020 – because the virus strain is not indigenous. Laboratory analysis linked the strains detected in Malawi and Mozambique to a strain circulating in Pakistan’s Sindh Province in 2019.