Supporting the fight against polio in Kenya

completed

In April of this year, the highly contagious polio (poliomyelitis/polio) broke out again in the Horn of Africa due to the import of the wild polio virus from outside and the inadequate immunization of the population in this region. The virus is now endemic in only three countries in the world (Nigeria, Pakistan, Afghanistan) and there is a good chance of eradicating the virus worldwide by 2018. A national emergency plan (Kenya Polio Outbreak Preparedness and Response Plan) was drawn up in May 2013 and forms the basis for the response to the outbreak. Increased communication and social mobilization and extraordinary vaccination campaigns as well as the strengthening of routine vaccination are required to interrupt the expected violent and rapid spread of the disease. The aim of the project is to vaccinate all Kenyan children under the age of 5 against polio in order to prevent the virus from spreading further in Kenya and the region. Accordingly, the target group of the national campaigns includes all children under the age of 5 in Kenya (over 8 million children). The total cost of the national emergency plan from May to August 2013 was USD 11.45 million (approx. EUR 8.6 million); the estimated financing requirement for the activities planned for November and December is an additional EUR 11.75 million (approx. EUR 8.8 million). An FC contribution of EUR 5.0 million would help to close the financing gap this year. The emergency project is to be disbursed this year to provide the urgently needed funds for the national campaigns in November and December. The FC contribution will support the national campaigns in November and December by financing polio vaccine and UNICEF's operational costs for sensitization and social mobilization, and will also strengthen routine vaccination in neglected areas of Kenya. The latter will have a lasting positive effect on the current and subsequent vaccination rounds and on regular vaccinations in health facilities. A second phase of support amounting to EUR 10.0 million has been subject to a stock check. The main risks of the FC measure are the cross-border nature of the outbreak, security risks in the affected region and an expected decline in vaccination coverage due to decentralization.