According to supervisors and volunteers involved in the special campaign, nationwide transport strike called by Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities (Nefin), people´s wrong mindset about polio drops and difficulties in reaching out to all families in the densely populated parts of the valley collectively hampered the government´s special vaccination campaign.[break]
"We achieved only 90 per cent target," said Narayan Maskey, vaccination supervisor deployed in Kathmandu. "We failed to immediately supply vaccines if volunteers urgently needed them anywhere." According to Maskey, a few bicycles were used for supplying vaccines as motor vehicles were off the roads.
"As we do not have our own vehicles, we would have to hire some private motors for delivering vaccines," said Bishwo Ram Shrestha, Chief of District Public Health Office of Kathmandu, told Republica. "However, no one appeared ready to lend their motor vehicles to us for using during the transport strike."
In Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts as well, about 10 per cent children were left out of the campaign.
According to Krishna Bahadur Chanda, Immunization Program Chief at Department of Health Services (DoHS), the report on the total vaccination coverage is yet to be compiled. However, he confessed that they have failed to meet the target.
The Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), with technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF), had set a target of administering polio vaccines to 2,015,085 children including 227,521 in the valley.
All 18 District Public Health Offices (DPHOs) will conduct a random survey on Monday to find out children deprived of vaccines. "If our volunteers find any children left out of the campaign, they will instantly administer vaccines to them," Chanda said, adding, "Our target is to administer polio vaccines to over 95 per cent children below five years of age."
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