Puntland’s health minister, Dr Ali Abdullahi Warsame, has called on the general public to take their children to the nearest health facility for polio vaccination.
He said polio cases had been reported in some parts of Puntland and the vaccination campaign had not reached all parts of the state.
At a press conference, the minister said: “I advise you to make your children available for the vaccination – the wild poliovirus is highly infectious and cause irreversible paralysis.”
On Thursday, a new polio awareness campaign began in Puntland with public address systems being used to disseminate information. The health minister said the vaccination campaign had been well received in the urban areas, but not in the rural and coastal areas.
A girl was diagnosed with polio in Lasanod, the capital of Sool region.
There have been 79 cases of polio infection reported so far across Somalia..
Abdirahman/MH
