Clerics have pledged to work with the Ministry of Health to push for increased uptake of vaccines in the country.
The Inter-religious Council of Kenya (IRCKwill push for increased uptake of routine immunisation which includes Covid-19, Malaria, HPV, Oral Polio Vaccines (OPV) and measles vaccines.
The council will be required to mobilise communities and use their platforms to ensure more Kenyans take vaccines.
In the renewed effort to ensure more Kenyans have access to life-saving vaccines, the council will collaborate with the ministry and county governments to have this achieved.
It will also work with the two levels of government with the support of Unicef to devise elaborate strategies to reach communities in targeted counties of Turkana, Samburu, Kitui, Kwale and Garissa.
"Religious leaders continue to play a key role in ensuring that everyone lives a full life by intervening on matters of health,” IRCK Chair Fr Joseph Mutie said.
“IRCK jointly with the national and county levels will mobilise communities and utilise religious platforms to advocate for the acceptance and increased uptake of the vaccines," Mutie added.
Uptake of vaccines such as the HPV for girls and Covid-19 remains low in the country with factors such as religious beliefs attached to it.
For instance hesitancy in taking of Covid-19 vaccines has been driven by the belief that being African is enough protection hence no need to go for the jab against the virus.
Some Kenyans on the other hand still believe that the vaccine causes erectile dysfunction while others are of the opinion that the vaccine is laced with family planning chemicals.
Despite the availability of the HPV vaccine, uptake remains suboptimal mostly due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic which led to the closure of schools and restrictions of movement.
Ministry of data places the current uptake of the first dose at 75 per cent due to sustained outreaches in the communities up from 52 per cent in 2022.
The uptake of the second dose stands at 42 per cent, up from 29 per cent in 2022.
The ministry introduced the HPV vaccine in 2019 but there has been suboptimal uptake occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The vaccine is the most effective way to prevent cervical cancer, which kills about 3,500 women in Kenya every year.
