Health campaigns: monthly highlights

A collection of September 2024 campaign stories captured and curated by Linksbridge

In partnership with the Health Campaign Effectiveness Coalition (a program of The Task Force for Global Health, Inc.), our team curates a monthly roundup of health campaigns worldwide. To access full coverage, sign up today.

For up-to-date worldwide campaign data, visit the coalition's Health Campaigns Intelligence Hub.

Featured stories

Pakistan immunized nearly 33 million children under age 5 against polio September 9-16 in a push across 116 districts, with a focus on high-risk areas. Some 286,000 health workers went door to door administering oral drops, and officials set up a WhatsApp helpline for parents whose kids had been missed. In Punjab, the drive aimed to reach 13.9 million children; Sindh targeted 9.4 million kids; in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 35,259 teams sought to reach every child in the province over just five days. The campaign was marred by violence on several occasions, including gunfire on a polio worker and police escort in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a roadside bomb hitting a police vehicle escorting vaccinators in the same province, and the violent assault of a polio worker in Sindh. PPEP (1); PPEP (2); The News International; Dawn; DW; AP; Arab News

Gaza launched a 12-day polio vaccination campaign on September 1, targeting 640,000 Palestinian children under 10. The campaign involved around 2,700 health workers at fixed sites and on mobile teams, vaccinating in three phases during area-specific nine-hour humanitarian pauses. Over 558,000 children received nOPV2 during the first round, which deployed 473 teams (including 230 mobile teams) in central Gaza, 384 mobile teams in southern Gaza, and 104 mobile teams in the north. In another round of vaccinations—scheduled four weeks after the first—the campaign will aim to administer the second nOPV2 dose. In the meantime, WHO, UNICEF and UNRWA have called again for humanitarian pauses and unimpeded access for vaccinators in areas that need special coordination. AP; Scientific American; WHO; Al Jazeera; BBC

Bangladesh conducted the second round of an anti-polio ‘mop-up’ campaign September 1-12, administering second doses of bOPV to 175,482 children under 5—and first doses to 7,497—in two densely populated Rohingya refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar. Between an earlier round in July and the September push, a total of 1,650 community health workers and 140 supervisors conducted house-to-house visits across 33 camps. Relief Web

Rwanda started administering mpox vaccinations on September 17. The exercise, which targeted seven districts neighboring the DRC, aimed to reach “high risk populations” using 1,000 doses donated by Nigeria. AP

Outbreak response

Zambia kicked off a nationwide measles and rubella vaccination campaign September 23-29, targeting over 4 million children ages 9 months to 5 years. Some 5.3 million doses were set to be distributed across all 116 districts of the country. The Africa News; WHO

Mozambique conducted a measles vaccination campaign in Cabo Delgado province September 15-23, targeting 1.7 million people, including children under 5 and adolescents up to age 15. The effort mobilized nearly 6,200 health workers organized into 1,487 teams. The province has recorded 341 measles cases and 18 deaths since early July. Club of Mozambique

Vietnam launched a nationwide measles and rubella vaccination campaign on August 22. Targeting children ages 1 to 10 who have not yet received two doses of the vaccine, the exercise was set to administer over 1.1 million MR doses across 135 districts in 18 provinces and cities. In Ho Chi Minh City, immunizations started August 31, with MR doses administered at all health stations in 22 districts and Thu Duc City; by September 16, only 16,900 of 200,000 high-priority children (ages 1-5) had been vaccinated, leading to the formation of 12 rapid response teams to address outbreaks in schools and expedite vaccine coverage. Vietnam had recorded over 2,000 measles cases as of late August. Vietnam News (1); Vietnam News (2); Tuoi Tre News; Asia News Network?

The eastern city of Kassala in Sudan conducted a second round of a cholera outbreak response campaign September 16-21 with 404,000 doses of the oral cholera vaccine. Subsequent campaigns will be rolled out in other affected regions. Some 8,457 cholera cases and 299 deaths were reported across eight states between July 22 and September 15. UNICEF; WHO

Indonesian vaccine company Bio Farma launched a dengue fever vaccination campaign on September 14 in collaboration with the Probolinggo regency government in East Java. The campaign, which targeted 1,120 children in grades 3 and 4 in the Paiton district, is the first initiative of its kind on the island of Java in response to rising dengue cases in East Java (2,233 cases and 24 deaths were reported in Probolinggo since the start of 2024). Booster doses are set to be administered three months after the first immunization push. Bio Farma

Integrated campaigns

Peru launched a national measles vaccination campaign on September 15 aimed at immunizing over 2.8 million children ages 1 to 6. Running until October 27, the campaign will deploy vaccinators door to door and at preschools, markets and public spaces. In 12 regions, 980,000 children ages 2 months to 5 years were also targeted for vaccination against polio. MINSA (1); MINSA (2)

Nigeria’s Borno state launched an integrated immunization campaign on September 23 and a polio vaccination drive on September 30. The integrated exercise aimed to protect vulnerable populations—particularly those living in internally displaced person camps—in the wake of recent flooding, provisioning OCV, measles vaccines and vitamin A supplements. Meanwhile, Borno’s anti-polio drive targeted 2.5 million children, enlisting 3,903 vaccination team members across all 27 local government areas. Borno government (1); Borno government (2); Tribune Online Nigeria; Peoples Gazette; Nigerian government

North Korea launched a nationwide routine immunization ‘catch-up’ campaign on September 2, targeting over 800,000 children and 120,000 pregnant women. The push aimed to administer 2 million doses of pentavalent, MR, tetanus-diphtheria, BCG, hepatitis B and inactivated polio vaccines, reaching people in all 210 counties who’ve missed out on doses since the 2020 onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Over 7,200 health workers were trained to support the effort. UNICEF

Spotlight on polio campaigns

C?te d’Ivoire conducted a national polio vaccination campaign September 6-9, aiming to immunize 8,795,238 children under 5 with nOPV2 across 113 health districts. More than 40,000 health workers mobilized for the effort. Time.News; Koaci.com

Angola ran the third round of a polio immunization campaign September 6-8, aiming to reach 6,287,191 children ages 5 years and under with nOPV2 across the country’s 18 provinces. More than 51,000 health workers, officials, and volunteers took part in the initiative, which combined door-to-door efforts with fixed vaccination posts in urban centers, condominiums, churches and public squares. Prensa Latina; UNICEF Angola

Somalia conducted a nationwide polio vaccination campaign September 8-12, targeting 4,208,234 children ages 5 and under with nOPV2. The campaign began in the central and southern regions of the country and was set to extend to Puntland and Somaliland. TRT Africa; WHO Somalia

Guinea launched a nationwide polio vaccination campaign on September 7, targeting approximately 2.5 million children under 5 with nOPV2 across 21 health districts. Xinhua

Sierra Leone carried out the third round of a polio vaccination campaign September 27-30, targeting children under 5 across 14 districts. Some 2,070,000 nOPV2 doses were available for the push, which was coordinated with officials in neighboring Liberia and Guinea. The exercise was set to continue in districts in the Western Area October 11-14. The Calabash Newspaper

Local campaigns

Uganda kicked off the first round of an Ebola preventive vaccination campaign on September 23, targeting 25,000 high-risk people—including health workers, members of the armed forces, refugees, immigration personnel, and birth attendants—in 20 priority districts. The second round of the initiative is scheduled for November. Xinhua; The Monitor

Cuba carried out the first round of a three-round pneumococcal immunization campaign September 9-30, vaccinating about 21,000 children 3-8 months with 10-valent PCV. The shots were distributed at 670 vaccination centers throughout the country. Granma (1); Granma (2)

Buenos Aires, launched a dengue vaccination campaign on September 30, allocating doses of the two-dose Qdenga vaccine to residents ages 15 to 39. Using a segmented approach, the exercise prioritized adolescents ages 15-19 in its first bloc and will continue on to people from 20-39. Government of Buenos Aires

Kazakhstan kicked off an HPV vaccination campaign for girls aged 11, with a catch-up immunization for those ages 12-13. The campaign was set to take place in school health offices and local clinics. Tengri News

Niger kicked off a malaria vaccination campaign on September 19, starting with an initial drive in the southwestern city of Gaya. Niger complemented the vaccination rollout by distributing free mosquito nets and providing preventive medication to children ahead of the rainy season. News Central

Vietnam launched its first nationwide vaccination campaign against dengue fever on September 20, targeting people ages 4 and older at about 200 inoculation centers nationwide. Tuoi Tre News

Zimbabwe conducted a 10-day MDA campaign September 16-28 to address lymphatic filariasis. The push took place in the districts of Centenary, Chiredzi, Gutu, Gwanda, Kariba, Mhondoro, and Mutoko, targeting people age 5 and up with a “triple therapy procedure,” administering ivermectin, albendazole and diethylcarbamazine (DEC) tablets. Health Times

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