YAOUNDE, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Cameroon on Thursday began vaccinating children against polio as part of a synchronized regional vaccination campaign to protect 83 million children in the Lake Chad Basin.
According to Cameroon's health ministry, health workers in 10 regions are administering the life-saving jab to children aged 0-5 in homes, schools, markets and other public places.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said the campaign is part of renewed efforts to eradicate circulating polio variant type 2 in Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Niger, and Nigeria.
According to the WHO, a total of 210 poliovirus type 2 detections have been reported across Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria, and Niger, 140 of which resulted in paralysis.
Although no cases have been reported in the Central African Republic so far, the WHO said that more than 50 percent of the polio cases reported in Chad in 2024 are linked to the strain circulating in Cameroon, underlining the importance of coordination and synchronization of polio response efforts.
Nearly 12 million children were vaccinated last year through mass immunization campaigns to halt the spread of the virus, the WHO added.
