HEALTH: Zimbabwe Immunisation Rate Still low

14 Dec, 2014 - 00:12 0 Views
HEALTH: Zimbabwe Immunisation Rate Still low Mrs Grace Dambanemwana, the sister-in-charge at Sunningdale Satellite Clinic, administers polio vaccine to children in the Harare suburb

The Sunday Mail

Mrs Grace Dambanemwana, the sister-in-charge at Sunningdale Satellite Clinic, administers polio vaccine to children in the Harare suburb

Mrs Grace Dambanemwana, the sister-in-charge at Sunningdale Satellite Clinic, administers polio vaccine to children in the Harare suburb

Zimbabwe’s immunisation rate remains low as some apostolic sects have not fully embraced the concept.

Though among the highest dissenters, apostolic sects are not the only ones who are shunning immunisation as there are some anti-vaccination campaigners who cite cultural and other reasons for staying away.

These include the elite, homeopathy followers and even some health professionals.

The country’s immunisation rate stands at 69 percent instead of the expected minimum 80 percent.

According to the World Health Organisation, an 80 percent immunisation threshold ensures outbreaks are averted and reduces the child mortality rate.

Low immunisation rates coupled with the reduced capacity of the country’s health sector over the past decades and a high prevalence of chronic malnutrition have contributed to high under-five mortality rates.

Director of epidemiology and disease control in the Health and Child Care Ministry, Dr Portia Manangazira, said: “Apostolic sects constitute a significant challenge when it comes to immunisation because we find that they aren’t homogenous in their health seeking behaviours or reaction to public health interventions.

“However, apostolic churches are not the only objectors. We have had problems from fellow health professionals, the society elite, the homeopathy believers and anti-vaccination campaigners.”

Immunisation is the process whereby a person is made immune or resistant to an infectious disease, typically by the administration of a vaccine.

Vaccines stimulate the body’s own immune system to defend against subsequent infection.

Children undergo several vaccination phases from birth until they are of school-going age.

Zimbabwe’s immunisation rates declined from around 80 percent in 1991 to 62 percent in 2008.

The large numbers of unvaccinated children in remote and poverty-stricken areas led to a 2009 measles outbreak that claimed more than 630 lives.

Apostolic Christian Council of Zimbabwe president Archibishop Johannes Ndanga expressed concern in the low rate and promised the nation that there will be a notable change soon.

“I’m fully aware that some apostolic churches haven’t embraced health-seeking behaviours and as an association we continue to hold awareness campaigns and emphasise on the importance of having our children immunised,” he said.

Archibishop Ndanga, however, could not divulge the names of the apostolic churches which are not having their children immunised for fear of promoting stigma.

Pneumonia and diarrhoea have been noted as the biggest killers of children under the age of five in Zimbabwe.

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