Before the school holidays, officers give home polio vaccines to children in Pidie Aceh

BANDA ACEH, KOMPAS.com – Ahead of the school holidays, the Pidie Health Service has begun deploying officers to residents’ homes to maximize Polio National Immunization Sub Week (PIN) in the Pidie District.

Pidie District Health Bureau Chief Arika Husnayanti Abubakar said his party would continue to make every effort to speed up the implementation of polio immunization following the determination of polio outbreaks (KLB) in this ‘area.

Currently, Arika said, the results of the Sub PIN implementation that was announced in Pidie District have reached 72,726 children or 79.5 percent of the goal of 91,484 children.

“We are currently trying as hard as we can and have follow-up plans to reach the remaining 16 percent target,” Arika said, via WhatsApp short message service, on Tuesday (6/12/2022).

Read also: 39,000 children in Lhokseumawe Aceh required polio vaccination

There were several obstacles when officials carried out vaccinations in schools, such as permission from the students’ parents. So the school did not allow officers to administer polio immunization to children at the school.

“Although right now it’s actually not justified to refuse vaccines due to the epidemic, so everyone needs to be vaccinated except some children who suffer from certain diseases. However, we continue to provide socialization and understanding to parents so their children can be protected from disease,” said Arika.

“We ask for the support of all parties so that the set objectives can be achieved. God willing, our area will get full immunity if all the children get their vaccinations,” she continued.

The Indonesian Ministry of Health has given an extra week to Pidie District to complete the implementation of polio immunization for children aged 0-12 in the District.

Round 1 of Sub PIN started from 28 November 2022 in Pidie district and as of Monday 5 December 2022 announced for all districts/cities in Aceh at the same time.

For the first phase, during the period from 5 to 12 December, the POLIO SUB-PIN will be implemented in Banda Aceh city, Sabang city, Aceh Besar district, Pidie Jaya district, Bireuen district and of North Aceh.

Read also: Health Minister Budi offers 96% of Pidie Aceh children one week to get polio vaccine

The Aceh government is targeting 1.2 million Aceh children to receive polio immunization and at least 1.15 million children or 95 per cent will be immunized by the end of December 2022.

Acting Governor of Aceh Achmad Marzuki called on the regents and mayors of Aceh to seriously implement and make National Polio Immunization Week (PIN) a success in the local area.

“I instruct all regents/mayors, along with the ranks below them, to seriously implement this Sub Polio PIN, in accordance with the rules set by the central government, so that the target of 95% of children aged 0 and 12 years to be immunized against polio can be achieved,” Achmad Marzuki said in Anjong Mon Mata, Banda Aceh.

Get updates Featured News And latest news every day from Kompas.com. Let’s join the Telegram group “Kompas.com News Update”, like click on the link https://t.me/kompascomupdate, then join. You must first install the Telegram application on your mobile phone.