Children from Bungoma South district set to receive polio vaccine

Written by Rosemary Wachiye 2011-10-31 17:11:00 Read 560 Times

Florence Matanda the supervisor of the immunization, vaccinating one of the many children in Bungoma Township during the phase three poli vaccination exercise. [Photo/ West Fm/ File] The ministry of public health and sanitation has announced plans to roll out polio vaccination exercise for children under five years in Bungoma south district in Western, following a recent outbreak in Rongo District. The Director of Medical Officer of Health (DMOH) at the Bungoma District Hospital, Dr. Amos Oyoko stated that the repeat of polio immunization after the recent one in June has led the ministry to launch another polio immunization campaign in the 129 districts in the country.   “This campaign is a response to a recent case of polio outbreak in Rongo District and the Ministry in response to that has decided to carry out another polio immunization campaign in a period of less than four months to prevent any spread of the disease to other parts of the country,” said Dr.Oyoko.   The door to door 4th round of Polio immunization exercise for children under five years is set to begin on November 12th and will run for one week through to November 19th.    Oyoko said that the exercise will involve immunizing all the children less than five years of age regardless of whether they were immunized against the disease before as this will assist in boosting their immunity against the disease. The Director of Medical Officer of Health (DMOH) at the Bungoma District Hospital, Dr. Amos Oyoko. [Photo/ RoseMary Wachiye]   “I want to call upon all the parents with children below five years to cooperate with our health Officers and ensure that all the children in that age get immunized again even if they were immunized earlier to prevent the spread of polio,” said Dr.Oyoko.   Dr. Oyoko stated that the parents need to understand that the exercise does not eliminate the need for routine checkup for children in clinics.   “The immunization exercise doesn’t rule out the routine checkups and therefore I want to call upon all the parents to continue taking their children to clinic for the routine check up in as much as they get immunized,” urged Oyoko.   He stated that after immunizing the health officers will be marking the houses so as not to repeat and urged the people not to rub off the marks as it might bring confusion.   He also explained the importance of taking children less than one year for routine checkup saying that they will get immunization against diseases, it helps in monitoring the child’s growth, the children can also get dewarmed and the children can also get vitamin A supplements.    “It is important for parents to continue taking their children to hospital or nearest health centre to their homes for routine immunization,” said Dr.Oyoko.   He advised parents to be monitoring the growth of their children and to be keen on the symptoms of any illness that may arise and take their children immediately to a health officer, as it’s the only the ministry can assist to curb early mortality in children.   Dr.Oyoko has also issued a 7 days warning to all pharmacies and clinics within the Bungoma Municipality which have not adhered to the set standards of running such facilities to follow suit if not those facilities will be closed down.   The clinics and pharmacies should; Register premises and possess registration documents, Only employ qualified personnel, Have sanitary facilities in the premises for both gender, Have standard dustbins and safety boxes, Safe running water, The building should be in good state of repair and Storage of proper storage of drugs. [Read: Pharmacists who sell ACTM higher than recommended in Bungoma warned  http://westfm.co.ke/index.php?page=news&bid=3551]