The fight against polio: a new generation
In Madagascar, polio is a threat that many thought was a thing of the past. This photo essay follows the first round of the response campaign targeting children aged 0 to 59 months in five southern regions
It all starts with the work of the community organisers who go door-to-door. Hermine, a 65-year-old community organiser, is informing parents about the campaign dates after having pre-registered the households.
Deux cent premier, a social mobiliser at the Ankaramena health centre, putting up campaign posters in busy areas.
Pre-campaign mobilisation continues with launches at regional and district levels, through awareness-raising amongst parents and those caring for children.
Tsivery, aged 9, went on his own to the market in Manambaro, in the Tolagnaro district (Anosy region), to have his two little sisters, Safidy, aged 5, and Volana, aged 5 months, vaccinated against polio at the launch of the campaign. Their mother, Nandrasana, aged 27, was busy selling goods at the market.
Like Melanie and Soafara, more than 2,000 vaccination teams across the 25 districts in the five regions of the Great South will vaccinate more than 1.1 million children under the age of five, going door-to-door, at dedicated sites and in health centres.
Fy, Youth Advocate for vaccination and polio, in action during the campaign to raise awareness amongst communities and support vaccination teams.
We catch up with Deux cent premier accompanying Jeannette – a vaccinator – at the weekly market in Ankaramena, after she has vaccinated children in their homes.
It is important to mark the left little finger after receiving the two drops of the bivalent oral polio vaccine (VPOb).
Polio is a highly contagious viral disease, but it can be prevented through vaccination. Over the course of four days, from 11 to 14 August 2026, the polio response campaign resulted in the vaccination of more than 1.2 million children aged 0 to 59 months and more than 42,000 children who had not received any polio vaccinations.
Note: In Madagascar, the polio response campaign is supported by the partners of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative – the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Gates Foundation, Gavi – the Vaccine Alliance, the European Commission (EC) and the European Investment Bank (EIB).
