The Deir Ezzor Health Directorate held a regular meeting today, Monday, with partner organizations working in the health sector to discuss ways to enhance polio eradication efforts by intensifying community awareness about the importance of vaccines and working to reach targeted children.
Dr. Nasr Al-Khalaf, Director of Health in Deir Ezzor, stated that the meeting coincided with the Ministry of Health's announcement of discovering two polio cases in Al-Mayadin. He noted that the discussion focused on the necessity of delivering vaccines to all needy areas and activating health zones and vaccination centers in the Jazira region, which suffers from a significant shortage of health services.
For his part, Dr. Ammar Aboud, head of the Child Vaccine Program in the Care Department at the Deir Ezzor Health Directorate, explained that following the receipt of two suspected polio cases on October 17, the Directorate's teams conducted a census of the number of children in the village and five surrounding villages. He noted that the response campaign included vaccinating between 34,000 and 35,000 children.
Aboud added that the vaccine is available, safe, and free, urging parents to vaccinate their children from one day to five years of age to prevent the disease and limit its spread, pointing out the availability of fixed vaccination centers in these areas.
Al-Khalaf confirmed that the Health Directorate organized an urgent response campaign about 15 days ago immediately upon suspicion of the first case, without waiting for laboratory results, aiming to contain the case and limit the spread of the disease. He emphasized the continued monitoring of the response in coordination with the Ministry of Health, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization.
The Ministry of Health had announced yesterday the registration of two polio virus infections in the Al-Mayadin area in the countryside of Deir Ezzor, outlining the measures taken to confront them, in the presence of representatives from the World Health Organization and UNICEF.
Source: Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA)
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