Sudan kicks off polio campaign to protect over 648 000 children in hard-to-reach areas in White Nile State

“After months of meticulous planning, we are proud to launch this vital polio vaccination campaign across the 9 localities of White Nile State, aiming to safeguard our children against the ongoing polio outbreak. I commend the unwavering dedication of our health workers, whose efforts are central to this mission, and I encourage them to persevere in ensuring that every child is reached in White Nile with the nOPV vaccine,” said Sudan’s Federal Minister of Health Dr Haitham Mohamed Ibrahim Awadallah.

The vaccination campaign is part of the comprehensive response to tackle the outbreak since variant poliovirus was detected in Red Sea State in January 2024. It builds on campaign rounds conducted in the accessible but high-risk states in Sudan earlier this year.

“As childhood vaccinations in Sudan have dropped to dangerously low coverage rates since the conflict erupted in Sudan, leaving children exposed to polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases, we have been working on a series of campaigns to stop the outbreak in its tracks,” said WHO Representative in Sudan Dr Shible Sahbani. “WHO will continue to coordinate and provide technical and financial support to these campaigns along with strengthening poliovirus surveillance.”

In Sudan, many health facilities in conflict-affected areas are non-operational due to damage, looting, destruction, lack of supplies and challenges in retaining and ensuring the availability of healthcare workers. With routine immunization disrupted by the conflict, vaccination campaigns are critical in protecting children from possible polio infection and interrupting the spread of the poliovirus.

“When the delivery of essential health services breaks down amid the raging conflict, vulnerable children pay the highest price. The immunization campaigns signal strong hope and together, we must do everything to give children in every corner of Sudan access to lifesaving vaccines,” said UNICEF Representative to Sudan Sheldon Yett. “UNICEF’s commitment to supply vaccines and build trust and motivate parents to vaccinate their children against polio in Sudan is unwavering.”

Extensive community engagement and social mobilization activities were conducted prior to the ongoing campaign, and they will continue through the 4 days of implementation. The campaign is implemented through the support of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Notes to editors:

In April 2024, 221 000 children under the age of 5 were vaccinated against polio during an immunization campaign conducted in the Red Sea State together with co-administration of vitamin A to over 185 000 children. In June 2024, a similar campaign, conducted in 8 states, reached more than 3.3 million children, and in August 2024 nearly 2.2 million children were vaccinated against polio in 5 states.

For more information, please contact:

Ismail Elshaik, EPI Manager, Federal Ministry of Health, ismailsoba@gmail.com, +249122697343.

Eva Hinds, Chief of Communication, UNICEF Sudan, ehinds@unicef.org, +249123168594.

Loza Mesfin Tesfaye, Communications Officer, WHO Sudan, tesfayel@who.int, +251911144194 (WhatsApp), +249913467512 (direct).