Sudan launches polio vaccination campaign targeting 11 million children
October 26, 2026 (KHARTOUM) – Sudan’s health ministry launched a vaccination campaign on Monday to protect 11 million children from polio nationwide, including in Darfur and West Kordofan states.
This is the second campaign of its kind this year.
A previous drive in April vaccinated 4.3 million children in Al Qadarif, Al Jazirah, Kassala, Khartoum, North Kordofan, Sennar, and White Nile states.
The health ministry’s Expanded Programme on Immunization announced the launch of a national campaign to respond to the polio epidemic.
The drive targets children from birth to age five and runs until Oct. 29.
Acting head of the campaign’s federal chamber, Tawadud Abdullah Al-Khider, said the drive will be implemented in Khartoum, Al Jazirah, Sennar, White Nile, North Kordofan, and South Kordofan.
It will also cover Kassala, Al Qadarif, Red Sea, River Nile, Northern State, and the Blue Nile region.
She urged families to ensure their children are vaccinated, noting that polio is a highly contagious viral disease that affects the nervous system and causes permanent paralysis.
The World Health Organization (WHO) stated it launched the national campaign in cooperation with health authorities and UNICEF.
The effort aims to protect 11 million children from the ongoing outbreak and the risk of cross-border transmission.
The WHO said the campaign is being carried out in two phases on X.
The first phase targets 6 million children in 107 localities across 12 states from Oct. 26 to Oct. 29.
The second phase will take place in the first week of November, targeting 5 million children in 79 localities across six hard-to-reach states.
These include the five Darfur states and West Kordofan.
The WHO said a second nationwide round is scheduled about a month after the first.
Sudan detected the circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) in December 2025.
The discovery raised fears of an outbreak amid widening immunity gaps since the conflict began in April 2023.
Polio can lead to permanent paralysis or death in severe cases and can only be prevented by vaccination.
Every child in Sudan deserves protection from polio, even amid war, UNICEF said on X.
The organization noted the campaign aims to reach 11 million children across all 18 Sudanese states in October and November.
Sudan’s federal health ministry is leading the drive with support from UNICEF, WHO, and other partners.
The UN warned in July 2025 that Sudanese children were at risk of deadly diseases after vaccination rates dropped to their lowest levels in 40 years due to the conflict.