Rwandans benefit from mass immunisation exercise against Measles and Rubella

Health workers in Ntungamo district on Sunday crossed the Uganda-Rwanda border to vaccinate children in the neighboring village of Buhara near Ngoma Sub County in Rushenyi county following request by local authorities there.

Presenting the district report on the Measles and Rubella immunisation campaign, the Ntungamo district health inspector Mr Japheth Nyete said the health workers who were on the team in Ngoma Sub County were requested by local authorities in Rwanda to enter and immunize some children near the border.

“They approached us and said they also wanted their children immunized with Measles and Rubella vaccine. It was a good idea because of the interaction they have with our children, we crossed over and immunized about 450 children in one area.

He said that the Rwandan children crossed over to be vaccinated and could be easily identified since they vaccinate BCG on the left arm yet Uganda vaccinates on the right arm and such numbers were also captured in the data without segregating them.

A total of 243,452 children were immunized in the first four days of the campaign reflecting 93.1% of the targeted 243452 number in the whole campaign.

The cold chain regional coordinator Mr Rogers Kizito however expressed concern of many unaccounted for vaccines in the district. He said looking at the number of virals brought back to the cold chain stored, many dozes remain unaccounted for by the medical teams on ground. He said all the vaccines delivered to the district following reports of shortfalls remain unused.

He further said that while there were reported vaccine shortages in the region, this was only caused by poor internal arrangements as figures of vaccinated children and returned vaccines show there would never have been any shortfall of vaccines as more than 10% of the vaccines in the region districts remain unused.

The Ntungamo deputy Resident District Commissioner(RDC) Mr Isaiah Kanyamahane lauded the district medical team for the effort towards the immunisation process and partners for increased mobilization that led to hitting the national targets in the campaign.

The Ntungamo Chief Administrative Officer(CAO) Ms Joanita Nakityo lauded the health team that crossed the boundary to vaccinate even children in Rwanda saying this showed commitment to the campaign.
The Measles- Rubella campaign was done by the ministry of health in corroboration with various international children health stakeholders starting with 15th to 20th October however was extended fro a day across the country and two days in the city and Karamoja region.
The measles Rubella combination vaccine shall now be integrated in the routine immunization process following first introduction in the country.