The South African National Department of Health (DoH) will be conducting national immunisation campaigns for measles and polio from the 5th to 13th May 2007 for the first round, and on the 9th to 17th June 2007 for the second round. The DoH is making an appeal to parents, guardians, caregivers and the general public, to take all eligible children, irrespective of their immunisation status, to their nearest immunisation points for polio and measles immunisation during this period.
South Africa has fully adopted and implemented the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommended strategies for polio eradication and measles elimination. The strategies are:
- High routine immunisation coverage
- Conducting mass immunisation campaigns
- Mopping up activities in areas of low coverage
- Case-based surveillance with laboratory support: acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) for polio eradication and suspected measles case surveillance for measles elimination
During the immunisation campaign children less than five years old will receive two doses of polio, one for each round, and children between 9 months and five years of age will receive one dose of measles during the first round.
By giving the measles and polio vaccines to as many children as possible, over a short period of time in a large geographic area, the transmission of measles and wild poliovirus is interrupted.
