Kenya declares polio public health emergency

The Kenyan government on Saturday declared the recurrence of polio after its elimination 29 years ago as a public health emergency. "The Cabinet noted the re-emergence of Polio in Kenya following its elimination in 1984. Cabinet declared the outbreak a public health emergency and directed the Ministry of Health to fast-track the ongoing immunization exercise and ensure the entire country is covered," a statement from the presidency said. The East African nation has been polio free in recent years but due to low immunization coverage, the region remains vulnerable to the importations of the wild polio virus. There have been no cases reported in outbreak epicenter for the past six weeks as aid organizations are actively searching for cases of suspected polio in all health facilities countrywide. Both WHO and UNICEF said rapid interventions by regional governments in collaboration with the two UN agencies across the region have been stepped up to contain the outbreak. The cabinet directed the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government to provide security and ensure cooperation by citizens. The UN health agency has declared polio a programmatic emergency meaning that Kenya must join in the fight to ensure that all the children at risk are immunized. The ministry of health said that counties which are close to South Sudan, Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia have the highest risk because the cases reported in the country are mostly imported from there, adding that the solution to end polio is to ensure good sanitation is available to all Kenyans.