00:01A bid to eradicate polio in Malawi.
00:04The country has started a vaccination programme across the commercial city of Blantaya
00:09after derived polio virus was found in sewage samples.
00:13The initiative is targeting eight districts of Blantaya,
00:16which is the country's second largest city.
00:18Children under the age of five are particularly vulnerable to the disease.
00:23Polio remains a threat when we continue to have unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children.
00:31Despite all the global efforts, we still have individuals, communities who refuse to get vaccinated.
00:38That's why in immunisation we say leave no one behind.
00:41That one child we leave behind is the one that will now be susceptible to polio.
00:46That is why it is key, if the world would eradicate polio,
00:51that every child under 15 years in every community is adequately protected against polio.
01:03Health officials hope the programme will stop the spread of disease in communities
01:07and are hoping to roll out the programme in more districts.
01:19After this initial phase, we hope in four weeks that we'll have a national response across the 29 districts.
01:25It will be a national response and again we call on every person to be part of the response
01:31because it's the responsibility of each one of us who has a child
01:35to make sure that each of our children are vaccinated against polio.
01:38And it's the only way we'll protect our children against polio.
01:43Symptoms of polio include fatigue, fever, vomiting and headaches.
01:47In severe cases, it can lead to paralysis.
01:50It's in severe cases.
01:54Mass
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