Final Report: Campaign Against Polio in Iraq

The campaign, which lasted for five days, was implemented by health centers and mobile teams. The Ministry of Health announced that over 5 million Iraqi children under the age of five were targeted for vaccination, with 540,000 children in Nineveh Province receiving the vaccine despite challenging environmental conditions. The Primary Health Care Project in Iraq, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), played a significant role in supporting the Ministry of Health's efforts to combat polio. The project contributed to the preparation and distribution of awareness and education materials, as well as a field guide for dealing with acute flaccid paralysis, a common indicator of polio outbreaks. The project also funded the production and broadcast of television segments on polio awareness and prevention. Acute flaccid paralysis is one of the most common forms of polio and is used as an indicator for monitoring polio outbreaks. The field guide, developed by the project, was prepared by health professionals trained by the project, including 677 vaccinators and supervisors. The guide aims to support healthcare workers in diagnosing and treating acute flaccid paralysis and reporting cases. In addition to the field guide, the project implemented an electronic vaccination record system (EVP), which replaces the need for manual data collection during vaccination campaigns. The system enables real-time monitoring and data collection, allowing for accurate tracking and geographic mapping of vaccination efforts. The electronic vaccination record system will play a crucial role in the Ministry of Health's polio vaccination campaign, which will be the first to utilize the system for real-time data collection and geographic tracking. The Ministry of Health called on citizens to expedite the vaccination of their children, assuring that the necessary vaccine doses were available and of international standards. Dr. Saadoun Al-Ghni, the World Health Organization's representative in Iraq, confirmed that 11,000 teams, including 1,000 teams in all provinces, were involved in the campaign, with 1,000 vaccinators and supervisors from the Ministry of Health overseeing the efforts. The Primary Health Care Project in Iraq is funded by USAID under contract AID-267-C-00-00004, with a team consisting of the Ministry of Health, the United Nations, and sub-recipient organizations, including Salibort International and Under the Lights Company.