Polio vaccination activities in conflict-affected areas

Abstract

Conflict poses a threat to the stability of health-care systems around the world. Within the context of immunization service delivery, conflict-affected geographies are often dogged by recurrent disease outbreaks due to the inability to administer life-saving vaccines to children residing in these areas. Essential immunization coverage is often poor in conflict-affected geographies, and within the specific context of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), multiple rounds of supplementary immunization activities are often needed to compensate for the inability to provide adequate immunization services. In order to implement polio vaccination activities, GPEI has often resorted to innovative approaches to reach and vaccinate children in security-compromised areas. This article examines the approaches adopted by the global polio program in conducting vaccination activities in conflict-affected geographies with the aim of understanding how they have influenced the successes and setbacks of the program in its bid to eradicate all polioviruses.

Keywords

• polio
• poliovirus
• vaccination
• conflict
• insecurity
• outbreak
• war
• immunization