The Western Area District Health Management Team (DHMT) on Monday 1st July 2024 at its Cline Town headquarters in Freetown ended a social mobilization and community engagement with various partners including the Kombra Media Network (KMN) on the Free Measles Rubella and Vitamin ‘A’ Marklate Campaign that commenced from 3rd –9th July 2024 and other health related issues to save the lives of Sierra Leonean children.
According to the DHMT, the Free Measles Rubella vaccines are safe, effective and free and that the toll free line 117 is still active for members of the public to call in case of an emergency during the campaign.
The Measles Campaign is for children 9 months – 5 years plus and will be done nationwide in health centres and other designated locations but not from house to house for which the DHMT appealed to social mobilizers to assemble people in these places as the campaign would not be from house to house.
The partners included market women, social mobilizers, supervisors, Christian and Muslim leaders and the media.
Thomas Harding, Social Worker, DHMT disclosed that government recognizes the role of the stakeholders, urged them to counter fake news and misinformation about the campaign, that children between the ages of 9 and 15 months would be administered with the Vitamin A tablet and revealed that vaccination is a routine in Sierra Leone.
He further stated that as part of the campaign, jingles and radio discussion programs would be organized, that each vaccination team would comprise of 2 vaccinators and 1 mobilizer, that Sierra Leone has reported 300 cases of measles nationwide and that children 0-5 years are the most vulnerable.
He continued that children are routinely vaccinated from birth, 6 weeks, 14 weeks, 9 months, 1 year and 15 months respectively clarifying that the marklate campaign, which is a backup, is different from routine vaccinations.
Earlier, Sister Agnes Williams, District Health Sister, Western Area in her welcome statement underscored the importance of the engagement and the role of the partners towards the success of the measles campaign and appealed to them to widely disseminate the information gained to their various communities for the campaign to meet its 95% target to prevent blindness, deafness, polio and other complications adding that the worm tablets would prevent children from contacting these diseases.
