Following the first round of its polio and measles immunisation programme in May, the City's health department is preparing for the vital second inoculations.

Open wide: one of Joburg's youngsters gets his polio drops

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WEEKLONG campaign to prevent measles and polio is set to get under way in Johannesburg. The City's health department is embarking on an immunisation programme on Monday, 23 July, targeting all children under the age of five. Clinics across the city will be geared up with the necessary vaccines and drops.

This is the second round of a national polio and measles immunisation campaign; the first round was conducted in May. It runs from 23 to 27 July at all public clinics.

Earlier this year the department held education campaigns on the dangers of polio and measles. To boost children's immunity to measles and polio, vaccines and drops need to be administered twice. Over 90 percent of children under the age of five require two doses to build up resistance to the diseases, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

"Polio campaigns can be seen as one of the key interventions towards achieving the global eradication of polio," according to the communications officer in the City's health department, Nkosinathi Nkabinde.

Health services managed to immunise about 90 percent of the more than 346 000 children in Johannesburg who are under five, according to the department. It is urging parents to ensure their children get the booster doses, or if they have not been immunised to take the children to their nearest clinic for the measles vaccine and polio drops.

"Rather be safe and have your children protected," says the City's public health assistant director, Antonia Barnard.