All is set for another round of Oral Cholera Vaccination campaign set to begin on Thursday, the Ministry of Health has said.
The 10-day exercise targeting eight counties will be conducted from August 3 to August 12 targeting 1.5 million people aged one year and above.
According to Emmanuel Okunga, a medical epidemiologist at the ministry, the campaign will be targeting eight counties that have been mapped as high risk for the outbreak.
To reach more people with the vaccine, vaccination officials will be doing a door-to-door campaign to administer the doses to the targeted people.
This will be done with the help of local leaders, village leaders and religious leaders who will help in passing the message to the residents about the campaign.
“However we shall also visit public places like markets, bus stations, schools, and places of worship settlements while health facilities will also have vaccination points to be able to reach all the people,” Okunga said.
The ministry will also be conducting social mobilisation activities through media and have public address systems in addition to distribution of a number of informational materials in the form of posters and banners in local languages to pass the message.
The vaccination drive will target Wajir North in Wajir county, Kajiado East in Kajiado, Suba South in Homa Bay Suba South, Embakasi Central and Kamukunji in Nairobi, Moyale in Marsabit and Mandera East in Mandera.
“Machakos we are targeting the school for the deaf which had a large cholera outbreak, so we want all those students there and the prisons because they also had large outbreaks," he said.
"In Garissa, we are targeting the new arrivals into the refugee camps because they are moving from areas where there are outbreaks."
Deputy Director Public Health at the ministry Sultani Matendechero has however maintained that the cholera outbreak in the country can only be contained through individual responsibility and a multi-stakeholder approach.
He noted that while vaccination is a critical component of the ministry strategy, there is a need to focus on other preventive and promotive interventions.
These include ensuring water, sanitation and hygiene, risk communication network and community engagement, patient case management and laboratory confirmation of cases
"In addition to vaccination, we must all commit to following essential public health measures," he said.