NGOZI/BUBANZA June 7th (ABP) – About 200 thousand people, including children aged one to 14 years old and women from Ngozi province (northern Burundi) will be targeted during the Mother-Child Health Week coupled with the African Immunization Week organized from 18 to 21 June 2019 at the national level. Of these, more than 69,000 children under 5 will benefit from vitamin A, children from one to 14 years old and pregnant women in the second and third terms will be de-wormed with albendazole.
It is therefore with the aim of mobilizing all the social partners of health for a total success of this activity that the Ngozi health province organized on Thursday a workshop for the administration, responsible officials of education, social workers and health promotion technicians.
Dr. Philibert Sendegeya, Medical Director of Ngozi Health Province, insists that all children targeted by this campaign be identified and receive the kit. For that purpose, a counting of all target children will be made by village leaders and community health workers, mobilization at the commune level, training of all health workers, local administrative officials and responsible officials of health information system.
Peripheral supplies will be made well before the launch of Mother-Child Health Week and the African Immunization Week, which will take place in Karusi Province (Central East) on June 28th. Dr. Philibert Sendegeya asks for full involvement of the local administration and school officials.
According to Désiré Ndayisaba, provincial coordinator of health promotion, three strategies will be used, namely the fixed sites which are the Health Centers, the advanced sites and the mobile strategy. This campaign introduces a novelty, namely the counting of all targeted children in order to catch up all children in age, the introduction of the registry held by the community health worker.
Note that the Ngozi province ranks 15th in the latest Mother Child Health campaign. Dr. Sendegeya explains this by the stock-out of Vitamin A doses, the weak involvement of the local administration.
Also note that the campaign is funded by the Burundi government, UNICEF, the ONGOS Gavi alliance and Food Shape Hungry and will cost more than 1,715,966,000 BIF.
In Bubanza (North-West) – More than 300 thousand children from 6 months to 14 years and more than 10 thousand pregnant women are expected in province Bubanza (north-west of Burundi), in vaccination during the Mother-Child Health Week (SSME), scheduled from June 18 to 21st, as revealed in the mobilization session in favor of local officials, held on Thursday June 6, 2019.
Across the province, the expected target is 143,615 children aged 6 to 59 months for the administration of Vitamin A, 173,014 children aged from one to 14 years and 10,575 pregnant women from 4 to 9 months of pregnancy for deworming them with Albendazole. Vaccination sites will be established at all health centers and other advanced sites, and the goal is to reach at least 80% as vaccination rate, a check by ABP revealed.
The provincial governor’s senior advisor, Mr. Astère Nitunga, and Dr. Joëlle Bigirimana, medical director of the Provincial Health Office (BPS), are asking for the combination of efforts to reach or exceed 80%. They also ask the communal administrative officials not to insert other activities that could disrupt this activity during that week. To those concerned by this vaccination, they call on them to attend the activity massively.
Note that this mother-child health week will be linked to the African Immunization Week under the slogan “Immunized People, Healthy People” and in Burundi under the theme, “A complete vaccination for every child”.
