As the government prepares to launch a campaign to vaccinate children against the measles-rubella (MR) virus this week, the focus should be on getting as many children as possible lined for this important vaccine.
The vulnerable group will be children aged between six months to 14 years, and estimates show that they make up about 19 million children. It is encouraging that the Ministry of Health has trained 42,000 health workers and 24,000 volunteers to conduct this exercise. The government will need as many hands as it can to vaccinate this vulnerable group.
It is of vital importance that this group is vaccinated to prevent a national epidemic. Already, the Disease Surveillance and Response Unit has reported that of the 1,570 suspected measles cases, 30 per cent were rubella positive.
This vaccination campaign should not be disrupted.
It is instructive that this campaign will be going on at about the same time that the Health ministry will be administering the Tetanus vaccine to women.
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The administering of the Tetanus vaccine has been a controversial affair in the past with the Catholic Church resisting the campaign on the grounds that it is a programme designed to sterilise women.
This year, the vaccine will be administered on women within the reproductive age of 15 to 49 years to protect them against neonatal tetanus that causes stillborn births and health issues among newborns.
All stakeholders should be mobilised to ensure that these vaccination campaigns are carried out smoothly.
