More than 1.29 million children aged under five years across 120 districts in 12 governorates in Yemen received polio immunization during last February, according to UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) latest update.
The campaign was the result of joint efforts between Yemen’s Ministry of Public Health and Population (MoPHP), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The campaign is the latest step in the fight against polio in Yemen, confirmed back in the country in 2020.
OCHA update noticed that rising levels of vaccine hesitancy were observed, resulting in missed children.
The International update added that Nine years of conflict have led to devastating outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases like polio, which disproportionately affect children.
The updated noticed that current testing of wastewater confirms the presence of poliovirus in communities and that the year 2023 also saw a massive outbreak of measles and rubella across Yemen, reaching over 49,000 cases.