YAOUNDE, July 14 (Xinhua) -- Chad has concluded one of its largest health campaigns to date, with health officials reporting that more than seven million children were vaccinated against polio.
Abdoulaye Annour, director of vaccination, disease control and epidemiological surveillance, said on Tuesday that the campaign exceeded its goal of reaching six million children, ending up covering 110 percent of the target.
Annour said that more than 99 percent of households welcomed vaccination teams, and over 90 percent of vaccine refusals were resolved through outreach. Refugees, displaced people and other vulnerable groups were included in the effort.
Chad was declared polio-free by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2016. However, cases of circulating vaccine-derived polio type 2 have since reappeared.
In 2025, the WHO launched a major regional campaign across the Lake Chad Basin. The goal was to protect 83 million children in Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic, Niger and Nigeria as part of efforts to wipe out the virus.
According to the WHO, polio is a highly contagious viral disease that mainly affects children under five. It is transmitted by person-to-person spread mainly through the faecal-oral route. ■