Kenya: Sh40m grant to help curb polio outbreak

Friday, August 23, 2013

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An international charitable organisation has given the World Health Organisation a Sh40 million grant to help fight a polio outbreak in Somalia and Kenya.

Rotary Club said the money would be used to combat the disease in the two countries where this week over 110 cases of wild poliovirus were reported-100 cases in Somalia and 10 cases in Kenya, where a man was also reported to have died from the disease at the Dadaab refugee camp in the north of the country.

The outbreak in Somalia occurred in Banadir area, where a large number of children had not been vaccinated against polio due to inaccessibility of the region.

LAST REPORTED CASES

According to data released by the aid organization, no polio outbreak had been reported in Somalia since 2007 while in Kenya, the last case was reported in 2011.

The funds will cover operational costs, including human resources, training, and transportation of health workers during immunizations this month aimed at reaching children under 10 years of age in all accessible areas of Somalia.

To date, five vaccination campaigns have been held in Somalia, three in Kenya, two each in Ethiopia and Yemen and one in Djibouti.

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