File: A child receives polio vaccine in South Sudan recently | Credit | WHO

About ten villages have missed polio vaccination in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State, a medical officer has said.

These are villages with about 40 households.

The polio vaccination drive which started last week targeted 290,000 children across the state.

Santino Ngong Chan, the head of the Extended Program on Immunization in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State said some families rejected the vaccination of their children.

“Few villages missed polio vaccination in Aweil East, a village may have 40 or 30 households. In Aweil centre, three villages missed the vaccination and these are scattered villages. So these are 9 villages in total,” Mr. Ngong explained to Eye Radio on Thursday.

“Another challenge we are facing here some mothers complained their children develop diarrhea and fever after taking the vaccine.”

In 2020, the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization launched a campaign to vaccinate 1.5 million children under the age of 5 against polio in South Sudan.

The WHO states that less than 50 percent of children in the country are immunized against polio and other life-threatening diseases, putting them at risk of life-long disability and death.