Residents of Busia, especially mothers, have been urged to adhere to the national immunisation schedule to ensure good health for children.
Speaking to KNA after hosting a post-implementation evaluation meeting with stakeholders for the recently concluded polio vaccination exercise in Busia on Tuesday, Busia county coordinator for immunisation Juliet Kilima said some residents do not take their children for immunisation.
“Our immunisation landscape shows that our county is at 50 per cent, meaning that 20 per cent of our children have not been vaccinated,” she said, adding that the trend is dangerous for the county’s population.
Kilima urged parents and guardians to take their children to be examined to establish whether they have received all the required immunisation services.
“Currently we have 117 health facilities that offer immunisation services in the county,” she said, adding that caregivers are also taught how to prevent some diseases.
She said the mass polio campaign managed to reach 93 per cent of children below 10 years despite some hesitance from the community.
“This hesitation was caused by misinformation from social media that were misleading,” she said, advising residents to know that all vaccines issued by the government are safe.
The immunisation coordinator explained that the mass polio vaccination was a reaction to four cases of polio that were reported within the country.
“Our county of Busia was among the high risk areas because those with the reported cases passed through our border point,” she said.
Kilima further urged residents to come out in large numbers and bring their children for vaccination, adding that the mass vaccination revealed that the number of children who received the required immunisation doses were few.
“This means that we are predisposing our population to preventable diseases which are dangerous because the remaining population becomes susceptible to other diseases.”
Busia County Commissioner Mwachaunga Chaunga thanked the health workers for the exemplary service they were carrying out.
Chaunga advised the health leadership to involve other stakeholders including religious leaders for better results.
He further called for increased sensitisation and community engagement, adding that there is a lot of misinformation from social media that jeopardises the uptake of vaccines.
“It is our responsibility as medics, religious leaders and government officials to communicate the correct information,” he said.
The administrator at the same time advised the health leadership to collaborate with other partners and non-governmental organisations for support.
Kenya managed to reach out to 104
per cent and 93 per cent of children
aged below 10 years during the first
and second phases of mass polio vaccination conducted in the months of
September and November this year.
