Malawi towards eliminating measles, says Hara
Malawi Health Minister Catherine Gotani on Thursday launched supplemental immunisation activities (SIAs) in Blantyre with assurance that Malawi is on the right path towards eliminating measles and polio, diseases that affect the general good health of under-five children.
Hara explained that Malawi has conducted successful immunisation campaigns since 1998, which helped the nation reduce cases of measles and polio.
The campaigns have also seen the nation securing a prestigious place among a few countries in the ‘measles elimination phase’ besides attaining the polio-free status by the Africa Region Certification Commission (ARCC) in 2005.
“Measles used to be a major childhood public health problem until 1998, but the scenario has greatly improved due to the successful immunisation campaigns Malawi has been conducting over the past years. From January 2008 to-date, only 19 cases have been confirmed measles-positive,” said the minister.
Hara urged parents to get their under-five children immunised if Malawi is to achieve a rapid development of immunity required for elimination and prevention of measles and polio.
“SIAs are very critical in the reduction of childhood morbidity and mortality while strengthening the interruption of measles transmission in communities. Malawi is conducting SIAs as a measure to sustain the measles elimination and polio eradication status,” she narrated.
The campaign, to run from November 2 to 6 2013, aims to capture children born after the previous campaign and those missed out during routine immunisation services and those with primary vaccine failure and pockets of hard-to-reach areas.
Government and its cooperating partners will cough K927 million (about $2.3m) into the initiative, which is targeting 2 297 544 children with measles vaccine, 2 603 883 with oral polio vaccine (OPV), 2 450 713 with vitamin A while 2 133 175 will be administered with mebendazole for de-worming.
In her remarks, World Health Organisation (WHO) representative, Felicitas Zawaira, observed that no economic and social development can take place where immunisation is lagging behind.
Zawaira stated that immunisation enables children to reach their full physical and intellectual potential.
She, therefore, commended government for the unflinching commitment towards improving access to immunisation for all, saying it is one of the best in Africa.
