In March 2022, Malawi responded to its first wild poliovirus outbreak in 30 years, by launching a nationwide vaccination campaign aiming to vaccinate over 2.9 million children in the country under the age of five. In the past two years, UNICEF staff have been participating in the polio response at different levels.

“Aside from professional duties, I had a personal attachment to the campaign,” said Patrick Chakholoma, Education Officer, UNICEF Malawi. “I remembered the challenges I faced as a child, growing up in the Nsanje district – one of Malawi's poorest, flood and drought-prone districts. I survived smallpox, measles, whooping cough, chickenpox, and tetanus. Today, we have vaccines to protect children from these diseases, and I do not want to see any child suffer for life due to not being immunized.”

Patrick is one of the 41 UNICEF staff members and consultants deployed to support the government and GPEI partners to monitor and report on the first round of the polio campaign in all districts in Malawi.

The first day of the campaign was filled with excitement, anticipation, and determination. And, it did not waver throughout the campaign, as evident by the non-stop buzzing of live updates from the field in the WhatsApp chat group.

Each, assigned to one district, had a story of braving the rains, carrying boxes of vaccines through challenging terrains and long distances to get to every child in every household. Each had a story to share of the unforgettable experiences marked with frustrations, appreciation and fulfilment.

For Albert Mutua Muasya, Programme Budget Officer, it was an eye-opening and proud experience.

“I can now see the connection between grants, budgets management and programmatic implementation,” he said. “I appreciate the hard work of community health workers, UNICEF colleagues and partners to implement programmes, especially after witnessing firsthand the impact on communities. I must say UNICEF is the real deal on the ground, and it is making a positive difference in the lives of people in Malawi.”

Mtunthana Mzungu, Senior Administrative Associate, felt a little nervous, asking herself if she could understand the technical health language. But, as the journey began, she says she was motivated by the undeterred commitment of the community health workers and volunteers to reach every child.

“Houses were sparsely located, and some roads were inaccessible. But the long distances did not dissuade the health workers, who were determined not to miss any households. Community members trusted these frontline workers. This gave me the energy to keep on walking, at times covering more than three kilometres, to interview households.”

Rudolf Schwenk, former UNICEF Malawi Country Representative, shared this video message to the group, expressing the pride he felt for his colleagues while he was out in the field observing the campaign.

Patnice Nkhonjera-Jana felt elated when reaching one health centre; she saw old women running after the vaccination team to get their grandchildren vaccinated.

“What was important for me as a Social Behaviour Change Specialist is that my theories were tested and I came back reflecting on different approaches that we are using,” she said.

Shorai Nyambalo-Ng'ambi, SBC Specialist, spent the week, not just monitoring but also interviewing parents, caregivers, children, and polio survivors. The journey took her to the homes of polio survivors who know all too well how dangerous this disease is.

“I met a man who survived polio and uses a wheelchair. He had a strong message to Malawians concerning the campaign,” she said. “He commended the good job UNICEF is doing to ensure that every family gets the message and that every child is vaccinated. He wished his parents had known about polio and the lifesaving vaccine; perhaps he would have been living a normal life, free from paralysis.”

For Dr Ghanashyam Sethy, Health Specialist and UNICEF’s Incident Manager for Polio Outbreak Response, there was no respite between compiling daily reports, feedback from colleagues in the field and sharing these with the UNICEF Polio Task Team and the Ministry of Health’s Polio Emergency Operations Committee.

“Our colleagues travelled to 1,750 households, interacted with health workers, mothers, caretakers and checked 2,520 children for polio vaccination.” He said. “The Ministry of Health and GPEI partners acknowledged and appreciated the hard work and commitment of UNICEF for improving the polio vaccination coverage and ensuring the global norms while carrying out the nationwide bOPV campaign. The team has made us all proud!”

As a result of the collaboration between UNICEF and the Ministry of Health, in all five rounds of the campaign, a total of 9,824,514 million (100 per cent) children under fifteen received polio vaccines. And UNICEF was at the forefront of driving this remarkable result for children in Malawi. UNICEF is eager to continue providing the needed support, deploying UNICEF colleagues, and ensuring that no child is left behind.

UNICEF is working closely with the Government of Malawi and partners in its fight to end polio for good. In addition to procuring a total of 40,363,000 doses of polio vaccine doses, UNICEF also supported the strengthening of the overall immunization supply chain by installing 440 new vaccine refrigerators, repairing 144 non-functional cold chain equipment, rational distribution of 15,193 vaccine carriers and 100 cold boxes. In partnership with the World Health Organization, UNICEF has trained 13,500 health workers and volunteers, 45 district health promotion officers, and over 120 faith leaders.