ZIMBABWE MEASLES IMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGN HALF WAY UPDATE
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From: as on 1 Jun 2010 08:26 ZIMBABWE MEASLES IMMUNIZATION CAMPAIGN HALF WAY UPDATE Harare, 28 May 2010. 1 281 629 children were vaccinated by day 3 of the on-going national measles immunization and child health days. This was said by the Honorable Minister of Health and Child Welfare, Dr Henry Madzorera during a press conference he held with the WHO and UNICEF Representatives to update the public at the half way point of the campaign. Dr Madzorera said many vaccination centres are experiencing huge turn outs with long and winding queues being the order of the day. �We would like to encourage all parents and care givers to continue taking all eligible children for vaccination until the end of the campaign on 2 June,� said Madzorera In his press statement, Dr Madzorera also acknowledged the overwhelming support by members of the apostolic churches. This, he said, shows that everybody, including these traditional objectors, is committed to child health. Many apostolic women have been bringing their children, many of whom have never been immunised before, to the various immunization points. The Honorable Minister also acknowledged the support his Ministry has received from donors and partners in the wake of the measles outbreak. �With partnerships like this, Zimbabwe will soon be focusing on measles elimination,� said Minister Madzorera. He also promised that every dollar raised will be accounted for Speaking at the same occasion, Dr Peter Salama, the UNICEF Representative said this ongoing campaign is a major engine to revitalise routine EPI. If routine EPI is strengthen outbreaks of measles and other vaccine preventable diseases will be more manageable and easily contained before spreading to all provinces, Salama said. WHO Representative Dr Custodia Mandlhate echoed the same sentiments. She said measles isone of the diseases that had been targeted for eliminaton, but because of the collapse of the health system, all the gains were reversed. Addressing the issue of expired vaccines, the Honorable Minister said no expired or experimental vaccines are being given. �The vaccines procured in Zimbabwe are pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO), procured through the UNICEF chaand registered and assessed in terms of quality before distribution by the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ),� said Madzorera, who was echoed by the WHO Representative Dr C. Mandlhate. He also said teams of international, national, as well as local health officials have and continue to check the vaccines and the cold chain status, and no reports of expired vaccines have been received, and to date there are no cases of adverse events following immunization (AEFI) but health care workers are on high alert, and systems are in place to monitor and deal with them. He encouraged all parents and care givers to take their children to the nearest health centre if they develop adverse actions after immunization. The Honourable Minister also took the opportunity to clear the air about expired anti malaria drugs and rapid test kits that are allegedly being used in some parts of the country. Minister Madzorera said Zimbabwe has one of the strictest regulatory authorities on medicines and drugs. He said no hospital is using expired drugs and test kits, and that the most probable explanation is that the drugs were given a new expiry date by the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe. Health Action in Crises World Health Organization |