The government has appealed to all parents in Uganda to ensure their children receive immunization against polio in the ongoing immunization exercise being carried out by the Ministry of Health, the World health organization and the United Nations international Children’s Fund– UNICEF.

Dr. Stephen Malinga, Uganda's minister of Health

The Minister of health, Dr. Stephen Malinga says the mass polio immunization exercise which started on Saturday is targeting at least two million children in 48 prone districts in northern and eastern Uganda.

He says all children of up to five years should be availed for immunization by the health workers who will be moving house to house to immunize children following the reported outbreak of polio in Uganda, after years of being polio free.

Dr. Malinga says all children should be immunized whether they have been immunized before or not by Monday when the first round of the mass polio immunization exercise will end.

The minister says the government is planning to carry out two more rounds of mass immunization between December 11-13 and January 15-17, 2011 to ensure Uganda is rid of polio.

He expressed hope that neighboring countries will also carry out similar immunization to ensure polio does not continue to come into Uganda from the neighbours as is the case with the latest outbreak reported to have come from Southern Sudan.