The Fight against Polio: The role of door-to-door vaccinations
Source: Zimbabwe’s drive to vaccinate 4.6 million children polio | UNICEF Zimbabwe
For a mother like Yeukai Madapandu (23), the delicate balancing act of running her small business and keeping her child’s vaccinations up to date proved to be a challenge.
In the heart of bustling Hopely, a densely populated suburb of Harare infamous for its economic hardships, Yeukai praises the door-to-door vaccination for its seamless integration into her busy life, allowing her to be a devoted mother while fervently pursuing her entrepreneurial dreams.
“I am grateful for the vaccinators coming to my community. My schedule is extremely busy, and taking my child to the clinic is a full day’s activity, which I cannot afford,” she says.
Yeukai’s son, 14-month-old Wesley, received his polio vaccination right at his mother’s vegetable stall. He is one of the 4.6 million children targeted to receive the polio vaccination during the second round of the vaccination campaign from 19-22 March 2024.
Zimbabwe successfully implemented one round of the polio vaccination campaign using nOPV2 vaccine in February 2024, with more than 4 million children vaccinated, exceeding the target. Having the second round of vaccinations ensures all children are immune and safe from the strain of virus that has emerged.
Through routine environmental surveillance, several cases of circulating poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) were detected in sewage samples collected in Harare. Additionally, through intensified disease surveillance, the Ministry of Health and Child Care also identified a confirmed human case of polio in Zimbabwe in January 2024. Without urgent action, there is a high risk of spread of polio. Hence, the Ministry of Health and Child Care declared a public health emergency in October 2023 and launched a nationwide polio vaccination campaign to protect children against the disease.
The nationwide campaign targeted all children under 10 years old to rapidly interrupt virus transmission and prevent further outbreaks. Children under 10 years in Zimbabwe are at high risk of contracting the highly infectious disease, which attacks the body’s nervous system and sometimes leads to paralysis.
The door-to-door vaccination is one of the tactics adopted and ensures no child is left behind, safeguarding children’s health and alleviating the burdens that come with traditional clinic visits. In Yeukai’s case, it not only saved her child’s life from the deadly disease but also offered an opportunity to manage her time gracefully, ensuring that her child is healthy.
Farirai’s sixth sense to eradicate Polio in her community.
Farirai Javangwe (49) is a vaccinator from Hopely suburb, using her intuition finely tuned to sense the presence of children in each household, almost like a sixth sense guiding her path.
“I usually look out for small shoes and toys; that way, I know there are children,” she says, confident in her technique. ” The residents can be unreliable, especially when we encounter vaccine-hesitant families.”
Farirai is part of the 10,000 vaccination team members who were trained and deployed by the Ministry of Health and Child Care to vaccinate all children under 10 and eradicate polio from Zimbabwe. Through the training, vaccinators are equipped to engage vaccine hesitant mothers and caregivers to ensure behavioral change.
Vaccinating an average of 300 children daily, Farirai begins her day meeting with other teams in the district to strategize how to reach as many children as possible effectively. She has capitalized on an opportunity that arose during the concurrent cholera health emergency. In Hopely, there are ongoing community cholera prevention awareness meetings, which entice many community members and their children to gather. Polio, caused by the highly contagious poliovirus. transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (for example, contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine Utilizing the disease’s close relationship, she advocates for and administers polio vaccinations to children during these gatherings. Farirai, like many other healthcare workers, has developed innovative approaches to respond to the ongoing multi-crisis.
“The only way to reach the target is to plan and be aware of the different activities happening in the communities. Meeting with other vaccination teams at the start and end of the day has been extremely useful for this,” Farirai said.
The work of vaccinators like Farirai is integral to the coordinated efforts of the Ministry of Health and Childcare to reach all children under 10, thanks to the support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) partners, UNICEFE, the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
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