By Sharlyne Eri – EMTV News, Port Moresby
A new case of polio has been found in Port Moresby.
A statement released by the National Department of Health on its Facebook page confirmed yesterday, that the case was a 6-year-old from the Five Mile Settlement.
This new case brings the total number of polio cases in the country to 10.
The Department of Health announced the finding in Port Moresby after laboratory tests were conducted by the Victorian Infectious Disease Reference Laboratory, in Australia.
Health Secretary Pascoe Kase said in response to this recent case, the department and its partners will start an emergency polio vaccination campaign on the 24th of this month in NCD.
The National Polio Emergency Response Coordinator Dr. Sibauk Bieb said the campaign in NCD, will begin around the Six Mile and Five Mile areas, as the case lives around these areas.
Polio is a viral infection that can cause paralysis and is life-threatening if the paralysis affects the muscles responsible for breathing.
Dr. Bieb is appealing to parents to get the multiple doses of polio vaccination that are being given during the vaccination campaigns.
The government has committed K2 million to the campaign with the assistance of K7.2 million, from the World Health Organization and UNICEF through the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.
Madang, Morobe and Eastern Highlands launched the mass vaccination initiative in July. The campaign has extended to six Highlands provinces and recently to Port Moresby which will begin on the 24th of this month.
The National polio mass vaccination campaign will begin on the 1st of October.
