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WHO, ministry allay fears over polio vaccine

 The principal secretary for health Dr. Khadijah Kassachon (L) and Nakuru governor Kinuthia Mbugua arrive for the county chiefs of health workshop at Great Rift Valley Lodge in Naivasha. The PS expressed the government concern over the loss of doctors from public hospitals to private ones. [PHOTO/Antony Gitonga/STANDARD]

The Ministry of Health and World Health Organisation (WHO) have dismissed allegations by a section of religious leaders that the oral polio vaccination is not safe.

In a speech read on her behalf, Dr Custodia Mandlhate, the WHO country representative in Kenya, said all vaccines used in the country for routine or mass immunisation are WHO pre-qualified, safe and effective.

Mandlhate said all vaccines supplied through the United Nations agencies like Unicef meet international standards of safety and quality.

She said WHO is charged with providing global leadership in public health including leadership in developing norms, standards and guidelines that are trusted to provide safe vaccines.

To ensure the country is polio-free, the representative asked the government and the Ministry of Health to learn from Nigeria where in 2003, a section of religious leaders forced followers to boycott the vaccine only to result in deaths and thousands of children paralysed.

Global commitments

Mandlhate said the eradication of polio and elimination of measles, rubella and maternal neonatal tetanus infections are global commitments to which Kenya is a member state.

“I appeal to the government of Kenya and MoH to actively engage all stakeholders, including the Catholic Church, in issues related to vaccination,” Mandlhate said in the speech read by by Dr Iheoma Onuekwusi during the launch of the vaccination drive in Nakuru yesterday. The vaccination targeting six million children in the country will be conducted in 32 counties facing a high risk of polio.

These include Lamu, Tana River, Kitui, Marsabit, Tharaka Nithi, Nairobi, Garissa, Mandera. Wajir, Homabay, Kisii, Kisumu, Migori, Nyamira, Siaya, Baringo, Bomet, ElgeyoMarkwet, Kericho, Nakuru, Nandi and Narok.

Other counties are Samburu, Trans Nzoia, Turkana, Uasin Gishu, West Pokot, Bungoma, Busia, Kakamega and Vihiga.

Health Principal Secretary Khadija Kassachoon (pictured) assured parents, guardians and all Kenyans that the vaccine is safe.

Kassachoon said polio vaccination campaigns are safe and effective and are the same vaccines used routinely to immunise children in all public, private and faith-based health facilities.

“All vaccines used in the country undergo vigorous quality control testing procedures by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, a body legally mandated to ensure quality, safety and efficacy of all medical products,” said Kassachoon.

However, she said, the country is faced with challenges of low access to immunisation services in remote areas especially those inhabited by nomadic communities, resistance by some religious communities’ such as Kavonokia, Kanitha wa Ngai, YesoNyalo and Dini ya Yesu.

She also cited insecurity in some regions that make it difficult for healthcare officers to conduct the exercise freely.

The PS also asked health practitioners to ensure all eligible children receive the routine vaccination against polio, measles, neonatal tetanus, hepatitis B, rotavirus and pneumonia among others.

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