Lilongwe DHO vaccinates1.3m children against polio

Lilongwe District Health Office (DHO) says it has reached out to 1.3 million children in the just-ended polio immunisation campaign.

Speaking in an interview on Monday, Lilongwe district senior health promotion officer Richard Mvula said they were satisfied with the numbers despite missing their target to vaccinate 1.4 million children.

He condemned parents who refused to have their children vaccinated against the disease. 

“What these parents need to know is that government always wishes its citizens good health and polio vaccine is safe as we have been providing it to children for a long time,” said Mvula.

He urged parents and guardians, whose children have not taken the vaccine, to make sure they get immunised.

Last week, pastor Tonnex Matikiti of Fountain of Life Church in Chinsapo in Lilongwe, who previously preached against the vaccination campaigns, urged his followers to have their children vaccinated.

He said: “I was one of the pastors who preached negatively against taking any form of vaccine because I thought there are hidden agendas in those vaccines.

“I went back to tell my church members about the importance of these vaccines.”