Liberia Carries Out Vaccination Campaign

A massive vaccination campaign in Liberia that was suspended because of the Ebola outbreak last year was renewed as part of the effort to restore health care services in the country (http://bit.ly/1QsVC5N). In May of this year, the Liberian government declared the Ebola outbreak to be over and worked with the World Health Organization and other partners to organize a nationwide week-long campaign to vaccinate more than 600 000 children younger than 5 years against measles and polio and provide deworming medicine (http://bit.ly/1AKW4Jg).

Interruption of routine immunization programs occurred in 2014, leaving many children vulnerable to childhood infections. This past January, a measles outbreak erupted. In February, a measles immunization drive was initiated but the effort failed, in part because parents eager to protect their children against measles and other vaccine-preventable diseases were wary of visiting health centers or workers for fear of reintroduction of the Ebola virus.

In the latest effort to reinstitute childhood vaccinations, a social mobilization effort was undertaken to spread the news of the campaign, answer questions, and alleviate fears.

  read more at JAMA