Two million child vaccinated against measles in South Sudan

May 5, 2007 (NYAMLELL, Sudan) — Some two million children in southern Sudan have been immunised against measles in a mass campaign spearheaded by the United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF said on Saturday.

“It is a wonderful occasion seeing the two millionth child immunised against measles as part of the mass measles campaign which is aimed at reaching every child in southern Sudan,” UNICEF Sudan Representative Ted Chaiban said.

The occasion was marked by a colourful celebration of mainly Dinka tribesmen and women and by speeches from government and UN officials hailing the achievement.

Chaiban said the campaign is targeting 3.5-four million children aged between six months and 14 years in a joint effort by his agency, the government of southern Sudan, the World Health Organisation and other partners.

“It is a massive and successful logistical undertaking,” he said.

UNICEF hopes to reach the ultimate goal of up to four million children vaccinated by next July.

The campaign coordinator, Teresa Delatorre of UNICEF, said all of south Sudan has measles vaccination stations.

“The rate of measles infection currently runs at 20 percent,” she said, adding that she hoped the immunisation campaign would drastically reduce this rate.

“Each team includes a social worker and almost all of the vaccinators are local volunteers who follow a three-day training course on how to inject the vaccine deeply and effectively,” Delatorre said.

Christian and Muslim clerics are helping the campaign by persuading people to cooperate with the vaccination teams, she added.

(AFP)

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Nyamiell, Southern Sudan, 5 May 2007 – The 2 millionth Southern Sudanese child will receive life-saving measles vaccine at a special ceremony in Nyamliel, Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal on Saturday 5 May, as the Government of Southern Sudan marks another milestone in its biggest-ever immunization campaign. The campaign reaches out to children aged between 6 months and 14 years of age across Southern Sudan, in an effort to ensure that more than 80 per cent of children in this age group are protected against measles. In 2006, the campaign reached 1.2 million children in Southern Sudan.

“This is a cause for celebration, the immunization of 2 million Southern Sudanese children against measles. We could not have achieved this without the support of the international donor community, UNICEF, WHO and non-governmental organizations,” said Dr. Majok Yak, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Health of the Government of Southern Sudan. “Now it is especially important that we reach children in areas often under-served by health programmes, which is why we wanted to focus today’s special event in Aweil West and Aweil Centre counties, some of the most rural parts of Southern Sudan.”

Joining government partners, donors and representatives of UN agencies and NGOs, UNICEF Representative in Sudan Ted Chaiban underlined the important of immunization campaigns as a springboard for broader health programmes, saying “Immunization is a starting point on the road to rebuilding and strengthening routine health care throughout Sudan. We have seen how vaccination campaigns can be linked to the provision of nutritional supplements such as Vitamin A, while vaccinators themselves can provide valuable information to families on a range of health issues, directly reaching households on a regular basis.”

“Investment in the cold chain and training of health workers improves the quality and availability of health resources, and greatly improves our ability to tackle other threats such as meningitis,” added Chaiban.

Measles accounts for the majority of child deaths in Southern Sudan where routine immunization is weak, covering only an estimated 20 per cent of children. The choice of Nyamliel as the location for the symbolic vaccination of the 2 millionth child against the disease demonstrates the Government’s capacity to overcome the many challenges associated with the campaign; Nyamliel has a difficult terrain and is subject to constant flooding. Road access is severely limited, with vaccine, cold chain equipment and other supplies having to be flown in from Juba and Lokichoggio in neighbouring Kenya. Vaccination of children has to be undertaken before the long rainy season further reduces access.

Local health authorities have worked with dozens of NGO partners, hundreds of volunteer vaccinators and community leaders to put the necessary systems in place. Vaccination points have been established in schools, community centres and other public places to maximize access to children and efforts have also been made to ensure that returnee children are immunized before they join their host communities – Northern Bahr-el-Ghazal itself has recently received 33,000 returnees.

Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, the Government of Southern Sudan has worked closely with UNICEF, The World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), who have provided technical and financial support. The governments of Canada and Australia, the UN Foundation and the Measles Initiative have also made significant financial contributions to the measles immunization effort.