Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
MATABELELAND North Provincial Medical Director Dr Purgie Chimberengwa has said efforts will be made to ensure teams involved in the vaccination programme against the deadly measles-rubella for children which starts today are brought as close to the people as possible.
Matabeleland North province is largely rural with people having to walk long distances to the nearest health facilities.
Some have in the past ignored such programmes because of distance.
Dr Chimberengwa said the Ministry of Health and Child Care is working in conjunction with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to make sure vaccination reaches every child aged from six months up to five years.
He encouraged parents and guardians to take their children for immunisation.
“We are rolling out the programme across the province in every district in conjunction with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education since some of the kids are in school. We want to ensure that every health facility provides the vaccination service so that everyone is covered.
“Whether the kids will go to the nearest clinic or health staff will go to the school will depend on the arrangement made at each respective facility as long as that doesn’t disturb learning,” said Dr Chimberengwa.
The Victoria Falls Municipality on Saturday used a hailer to inform residents about the programme. In the resort town, Chinotimba Clinic will be the main immunisation centre.The preogramme runs countrywide from today until Friday.
The vaccination comes after the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned against a dangerous global come back of measles- a preventable and highly infectious viral illness that can lead to serious health complications such as lung and brain infections in children.
Congenital Rubella, another form of measles, causes irreversible birth defects like deafness, cataracts, heart defects, mental retardation and spleen damage.
WHO warned of a dangerous measles come back last week which it said will affect many countries as cases have been increasing since the beginning of the year.
Nearly 365 000 cases have been reported globally this year, the highest figure since 2006. Who said measles caused an estimated 109 000 deaths in 2017.
For a country to attain the measles free status it must achieve at least 95 percent measles immunisation coverage and Zimbabwe stands at 90 percent.
Zimbabwe launched a national immunisation programme in 2012 following a massive measles outbreak in 2009 which killed 630 children.
During that time, more than 12 000 suspected cases were recorded. — @ncubeleon
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