south sudan polio slideshow

In December 2011, South Sudan celebrated five months of independence from Sudan – achieved on 9 July 2011. But scars left by a decades-long civil war are still evident: widespread chronic food insecurity; acute malnutrition, exceeding 20 per cent in certain areas; severely limited access to basic services, including health care, improved sources of drinking water and sanitation facilities; and high rates of under-five and maternal mortality. Immunization coverage also remains low. More than two years have passed since the last case of polio was reported in what is now South Sudan. But the country’s proximity to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Chad – both of which have suffered from imported wild poliovirus for over a year – leaves South Sudanese children at continued risk of the disease. United Nations organizations, including UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), together with other partners, are supporting the Government’s efforts to keep the country polio-free. In 2011, over 3 million under-five children were vaccinated against polio in each of four immunization campaigns.

Image UNI122537: © UNICEF/NYHQ2011-2450/Sokol

Michael Goo, Manager of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in Unity State, holds three vials of oral polio vaccine, in the state’s vaccine storage facility, in the town of Bentiu. Storage facilities play a critical role in preserving the ‘cold chain’, the series of temperature controls required to maintain vaccine potency from manufacture through inoculation. The EPI was created in 1974 by WHO, working with UNICEF, governments and other partners, to ensure that children in all countries benefit from vaccines.

A worker carries insulated shipping containers, filled with polio vaccines, to a truck bound for the airport, in the Unity State vaccine storage facility, in the town of Bentiu. The vaccines will then be transported to remote locations via airplane. Insulated shipping containers and vaccine storage facilities play a critical role in preserving the ‘cold chain’, the series of temperature controls required to maintain vaccine potency from manufacture through inoculation.


Workers unload insulated shipping containers, filled with polio vaccines, from a cargo plane, at Aweil Airport, in the town of Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. Several hours before, the vaccines were transferred from a vaccine storage facility, in Juba, the capital. Insulated shipping containers and vaccine storage facilities play a critical role in preserving the ‘cold chain’, the series of temperature controls required to maintain vaccine potency from manufacture through inoculation.


Children watch workers unload insulated shipping containers, filled with polio vaccines, from a cargo plane, at the Aweil Airport, in Northern Bahr el Ghazal State. Several hours before, the vaccines were transferred from a vaccine storage facility, in Juba, the capital. Insulated shipping containers and vaccine storage facilities play a critical role in preserving the ‘cold chain’, the series of temperature controls required to maintain vaccine potency from manufacture through inoculation.


Carrying a cold box filled with polio vaccines, vaccinator Nyaluak Tebuom, 14, passes other travellers on a dirt road as he journeys to Pakur Village, in Unity State. Nyaluak must walk more than 10 kilometres on the road, which is laden with anti-tank mines, to administer the vaccines to the village’s children. Cold boxes play a critical role in preserving the ‘cold chain’, the series of temperature controls required to maintain vaccine potency from manufacture through inoculation.


(Foreground) traditional dancers, who are serving as social mobilizers for the Ministry of Health and UNICEF, wave from the back of a pickup truck, in Juba, the capital. They are raising awareness of the importance of immunizing children against polio. A procession of people on ‘boda-bodas’ (bicycle taxis) follows them.


A procession of people on ‘boda-bodas’ (bicycle taxis) rides on a dirt road, in Juba, the capital. Preceding them, traditional dancers, serving as social mobilizers for the Ministry of Health and UNICEF, wave from the back of a pickup truck; they are raising awareness of the importance of immunizing children against polio.


Traditional dancers, who are serving as social mobilizers for the Ministry of Health and UNICEF, perform for community members, in Juba, the capital. They are raising awareness of the importance of immunizing children against polio.


(Second from right) Chief Chirilo Mayik Madut speaks with vaccinators on their arrival at the Chilak Returnee Centre, in the town of Rubkona, Rubkona County, Unity State. One of the vaccinators is carrying a cold box filled with polio vaccines. Cold boxes play a critical role in preserving the ‘cold chain’, the series of temperature controls required to maintain vaccine potency from manufacture through inoculation. The centre – run by the Government with support from UNICEF and other partners – provides basic services, including water, health care and nutritional aid, to returnees who fled during the civil war.


(Left-right) Social mobilizer Dor Gawar and vaccinator Nyakuoth Chuol, 15, speak with Aluk Chol, holding her 2-year-old son, Mayol Deng, outside her home, in the Chilak Returnee Centre, in the town of Rubkona, Unity State. Nyakuoth is carrying a cold box filled with polio vaccines. Cold boxes play a critical role in preserving the ‘cold chain’, the series of temperature controls required to maintain vaccine potency from manufacture through inoculation. The centre – run by the Government with support from UNICEF and other partners – provides basic services, including water, health care and nutritional aid, to returnees who fled during the civil war.


One-month-old Monyaguek Mayen is held by his mother while receiving a dose of oral polio vaccine, in the Chilak Returnee Centre, in the town of Rubkona, Unity State. Children need multiple rounds of the vaccine to ensure immunity. The centre – run by the Government with support from UNICEF and other partners – provides basic services, including water, health care and nutritional aid, to returnees who fled during the civil war.


Vaccinator Nyakuoth Chuol, 15, administers a dose of oral polio vaccine to Malakal Bolinth, held by his mother, Apol Maror, inside their home, in the Chilak Returnee Centre, in the town of Rubkona, Unity State. Children need multiple rounds of the vaccine to ensure immunity. The centre – run by the Government with support from UNICEF and other partners – provides basic services, including water, health care and nutritional aid, to returnees who fled during the civil war.


A vaccinator records the number of children who have been immunized against polio by a vaccination team, in Juba, the capital. Each team is assigned to visit approximately 100 households.


south sudan polio slideshow

Health & Medicine

filledwith polio vaccines

case of polio

vials of oral polio

vaccine storagefacility

image uni122542

image uni122537

image uni122545

vaccines willthen