Tokha Nagarpalika Women Community Health volunteers Administer the 'OPV' to children below five years. Photo by Nikki Thapa

To reduce child mortality, morbidity, and disability associated with vaccine-preventable diseases, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has launched a four-day long immunization drive after the detection of poliovirus in a sample of water taken from the confluence of the Tukuche rivulet and the Bagmati river at Teku, Kathmandu.

Pariyar mother and son holds vaccine card after administering Polio drops. Dhapasi, Kathmandu.

Nepal has been polio-free since 2010, and on March 27, 2014, The World Health Organisation Nepal maintaining zero polio cases for three consecutive years, officially declared Nepal a polio-free country.

The infectious disease has surfaced in the capital city’s sewage after having zero human cases of polio for about 14 years. The National Institute of Health of Thailand, a World Health Organisation’s collaborating centre has confirmed the detection of type-3 poliovirus in sewage samples collected from the confluence of the Tukucha and Bagmati Rivers, in Kathmandu on May 26.

Tokha Nagarpalika Women Community Health volunteers go door to door to administer OPV to children below five years. Dhapasi, Kathmandu.

Following the detection of type-3 poliovirus, the Department of Health Services has mobilized health workers and women community health volunteers to administer the Oral polio vaccine (OPV) targeting two hundred and eighty thousand children under the special immunization campaign in the three districts; Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur of the Valley. The Immunisation Section at the Family Welfare Division under the Department of Health Services had planned to carry out a four-day polio vaccination in all three districts of the Valley from July 24 but later extended for a week.

Polio drops, "Polio ko Thopa".

Polio toolkit.

OPV, which consists of Type-1 and Type-3 polioviruses is administered during the campaign. Health workers and female community health volunteers were deployed to homes, schools, bus parks, and entry points to ensure that no eligible children missed the vaccine. All children under five years of age have been inoculated with an additional dose of oral polio vaccine in the drive.

Tokha Nagarpalika Women Community Health volunteers go door to door to administer OPV to children below five years. Dhapasi, Kathmandu.

Under 'IPV Vaccination Campaign-2081 BS’, the government also conducted a polio vaccination campaign for children across the country starting June 2024 (Jestha 2081 BS) to administer the Inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV). The MoHP had urged parents to bring their children to the nearest vaccination centers for polio immunization.

The Polio virus primarily affects children and is typically transmitted through droplets or aerosols from the throat and via fecal contamination of hands, utensils, food, and water. Individuals who do not wash their hands properly, consume contaminated food and water, or live in areas with poor water and sanitation conditions are at high risk of infection.

Tokha Nagarpalika Women Community Health volunteers go door to door to administer OPV to children below five years. Dhapasi, Kathmandu.Tokha Nagarpalika Women Community Health volunteers go door to door to administer OPV to children below five years. Dhapasi, Kathmandu.Polio drops, "Polio ko Thopa". Two drops of OPV are administered to children below five years. Dhapasi, Kathmandu.