Polio Reaches Iraq
AMAR is supporting the Ministry in scaling up its vaccination drive to stop the disease from spreading. On March 30th, World Health Organisation officials confirmed that a six-year-old boy in Baghdad had caught the infectious disease, which carried the same genetic fingerprint as a virus detected in eastern Syria in October 2013. Twenty-seven children were paralysed in last year's polio outbreak in Syria, and AMAR's Women Health Volunteers (WHVs) and supervisors in Baghdad are working hard to raise awareness of the disease.
Spreading Awareness Through Women Health Volunteers
Alongside Zain, our leading corporate partner, and the Ministry of Health, the WHVs have been campaigning throughout Baghdad in shops, schools and community centres. Their aim is to explain what polio is, how it is transmitted and which steps prevent it from spreading further, while encouraging the public to get vaccinated.
Vaccination and the Toll of Conflict
In 2013 AMAR delivered more than 50,000 vaccinations in Iraq, yet polio poses a renewed threat to vulnerable, unvaccinated people across the Middle East. Anyone who has not previously been immunised against polio needs three doses of the vaccine. Conflict across the region has badly disrupted this vaccination process. For people fleeing conflict, keeping a record of medical treatment is difficult — especially for children and newborns, who are most susceptible to the disease.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is polio?
Polio is an acute viral and infectious disease that can attack the respiratory and circulatory systems and impair movement in the legs, arms and the trunk muscles of the back.
How is polio spread?
AMAR's awareness work explains how polio is transmitted and which steps prevent it from spreading further, while urging members of the public to get vaccinated.
How many doses of the polio vaccination are required?
For those who have been previously unimmunised against polio, three doses of the vaccination are required.
Why is conflict linked to polio outbreaks?
Conflict across the Middle East has badly disrupted the vaccination process. For people fleeing conflict, keeping a record of medical treatment is difficult — especially for children and newborns, who are most susceptible to the disease.
How is AMAR responding to the outbreak in Iraq?
AMAR is working with Iraq's Ministry of Health to help scale up its vaccination campaign, and AMAR's Women Health Volunteers and supervisors in Baghdad are raising awareness of the disease, including campaigning in shops, schools and community centres.
Contact
Stopping polio depends on reaching every child with the vaccine, and in areas affected by conflict that means rebuilding trust as well as records. AMAR's Women Health Volunteers work within their own communities to answer questions, explain prevention and encourage families to take part in the vaccination campaign.