How Guinea is fighting a new polio epidemic

In October 2023, the Guinean government and the partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative included World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Gavi, the vaccine alliance implemented a national vaccination campaign to immunize over 3 million children under five years old against polio.

Although the sun had barely risen on the morning of 27 October 2023, Guinea was poised to embark on the first of four important days. Across the nation's cities, towns and villages, dedicated vaccinators equipped with their essential cold boxes ventured forth, ready to vaccinate over three million children under five against polio.

“We are here to save our community’s children,” says Tierno, while he walks the streets of Koulé, a town in Guinea’s forest region. “Polio is a dangerous disease; it can paralyze children or even kill them,” he continues, inferring the worst-case scenarios to be avoided at all costs through their work.

Hours under the scorching sun

Guinea hadn’t known a single case of polio since 2021, until one was recorded in Siguiri in June 2023, triggering an urgent response to combat the virus. However, Guinea is no easy terrain for such a fight: with its relentless 30-degree Celsius temperatures and countless remote villages, reaching every child with the two cold drops of the vaccine is challenging at best.

First, not all health centres and outposts have refrigerators, and those that do may be tens of kilometres away from the villages where children live. Second, almost all roads outside of cities are unpaved dirt paths, often in less-than-ideal conditions. Consequently, many vaccinators resort to motorbikes, bicycles or even pirogues to transport vaccines. Others have no other choice but to walk.

And yet, vaccinators and social mobilizers – community members whose aim is to sensibilize parents before the arrival of vaccinators – power through. “It’s hard work,” confesses Fatoumata, a vaccinator in Belzano. “Once we reach a village, we walk for hours under the scorching sun.” All of this effort is made to ensure that not a single pinkie on a child's right hand remains unmarked by the familiar black ink, a vital symbol distinguishing a vaccinated child from an unvaccinated one.

Parents wait for us

Despite the hard work, vaccinators are deeply touched by the way parents welcome them into their homes. “Sometimes, we meet parents in the street, and they ask us when we will pass by their house,” says Hawa, from Nzérékoré. “This is because they have been sensitized, and because we are ourselves members of the community. It’s much easier to accept a neighbour vaccinating your child than a stranger,” she concludes.

“Us, adults, all remember how many children were paralyzed for life because of polio,” tells Kadiatou, mother of two from Samoe. “Now, thanks to the vaccine you don’t see that much more. This is why, when vaccinators arrive at my doorstep, I’m happy to welcome them.”

In the ongoing battle against polio, Guinea's dedicated vaccinators and the warmth of parents' welcome are the real heroes. With each marked finger, Guinea moves forward, step by step, toward a future in which polio will be ancient history.