Visiting homes to curb polio in Aceh

Tracking unvaccinated children

Before each home visit, the vaccination team packed and picked up the vaccine carrier to keep the vaccine at the recommended temperature. Healthcare workers from Community Health Centre (Puskesmas) Ingin Jaya brought the carrier to the home visits, tracking unvaccinated children and administering polio vaccines in Aceh Besar District, Aceh Province.

Walking from house to house

Vaccination began with the teams, accompanied by local health cadres, walking from house to house, knocking on doors and giving two drops of polio vaccine to every child they found.

Remind the importance of vaccination

”We use the visit to vaccinate the children, and at the same time, remind the community about the importance of vaccination,” explained Nunuk, midwife from Puskesmas Ingin Jaya (left). Yuli Ananda (center), held her son Ashraf (2) on her lap during vaccination. The government targets a minimum of 95% of children to be vaccinated, to ensure herd immunity against the poliovirus.

With low vaccination rates in recent years and outbreaks on the horizon, WHO provides data analysis and monitoring to assist governments in achieving polio eradication by 2026. To manage the outbreak, a joint team of the Ministry of Health, province and district health offices, WHO, and UNICEF has been formed. UNICEF focuses on social mobilization and campaigning, while WHO concentrates on supporting the development of national guidelines, capacity building on vaccination management and polio surveillance for health workers, monitoring and evaluating of the vaccination coverage and its quality, and advocating to ensure polio outbreak response intervention are implemented with high quality.

Rapid convenience assessment (RCA)

Irlani Ginting held her daughter Aisyah Rais while answering questions from WHO and UNICEF officers during the rapid convenience assessment (RCA) in Baiturrahman sub-district, Banda Aceh. Her son, Umar Alkatab, stood by her side. This activity aims to identify specific obstacles to immunization and prepare plans to address them. 

All children must receive the vaccine

Midwives from Puskesmas Ingin Jaya, accompanied by WHO, explained the importance of polio vaccination during a home visit in Aceh Besar, Aceh, Indonesia. The midwives conveyed to parents that all children must receive the vaccine so they have immunity and protection from the poliovirus. The vaccination is proven to be safe and effective to protect children and stop transmission. Hoaxes and parents’ hesitancy to vaccinate has been threatening the polio outbreak response. Explanations from healthcare workers can help to overcome such challenges.

Polio vaccine is safe and effective

Dr Nanda from Puskesmas Baiturrahman providing the polio vaccine to children in Neusu village in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh Province. Working with local healthcare cadres from sub-districts, Puskesmas in urban areas convince parents that the polio vaccine is safe and effective in “teaching” the children’s bodies how to fight off the virus.

Polio sweet drops

"The vaccination for the first batch is promoted as polio sweet drops," explained Nunuk (center), one of the midwives from Puskesmas Ingin Jaya. It raises children's interest in getting vaccinated and often reduces reluctance of their parents. Two drops of the polio vaccine were given to all children in the first phase of the poliovirus supplementary immunization activity (SIA). Within a month, the children will receive the second dose.

There is no cure for polio

There is no cure for polio, but it can be easily prevented. Two drops of oral vaccine are all that is needed. Arif Fadillah held his daughter, Khanza, while a midwife from Puskesmas Ingin Jaya administered the polio vaccine during a home visit in Aceh Besar, Aceh. Parents' awareness is essential to stop the virus transmission and protect our children from polio.

Polio vaccination near a beach

Rani Amsa, a midwife from Puskesmas Peukan Bada, provided polio vaccination near a beach in Aceh Besar, Aceh, Indonesia. Ms. Amsa is one of the healthcare workers in Aceh who faced rejection and intimidation from several vaccine-hesitant parents. “Sometimes the parents raise their voice and do not welcome us in their house. But I believe it wasn’t caused by bad intentions. The parents are just unaware that this is important to protect their children,” she said.

Registering vaccinated children in Aceh Besar

Rani Amsa, a midwife from Puskesmas Peukan Bada, registered vaccinated children in Aceh Besar. Proper documentation enables health workers to follow up with the next doses of vaccination and ensures parents know their child’s vaccination status.  

The presence of Nunuk, Dr Nanda, Rani and other healthcare workers, who strive to find all children in the community, ensures vaccination access for families and protects the children against polio infection. The Ministry of Health reports that 93.9% children in Aceh received the first dose of nOPV2 vaccine. A good start for our children's future.