Children missing out on basic health services
BANGUI: In a context in which routine healthcare has broken down and communities are left without even basic medical treatment, many children living in the Central African Republic (CAR) are missing out on routine vaccinations.
From 2015 Doctors Without Borders (MSF), in partnership with the ministry of health, launched an unprecedented campaign to vaccinate more than 213 000 children against nine common illnesses.
Seven years ago, MSF, while working across CAR, found that vaccination coverage for childhood illnesses was low and that this was contributing to alarmingly high levels of mortality – well above the emergency threshold, despite the fact that easily-preventable illnesses such as polio and measles affected non-vaccinated children.
In addition to the existing violence, displacement and health issues that spring directly from conflict, it was found that children were being left at risk of a lifetime without protection from deadly illnesses.
Official ministry of health figures showed that between 2012 and 2014 the number of CAR children vaccinated against measles fell from 64% to 25%, and those vaccinated against acute respiratory infections from 52% to 20%. By the end of 2013, only 13% of one-year-olds had been fully immunised.
In mid-2015 MSF, in partnership with the ministry of health, sought to address this problem by rolling out a two-year-long mass vaccination campaign in some districts across the country.
MSF also reinforced vaccination activities at MSF-supported health facilities. In many areas, MSF says, it was able to administer vaccines to the population only shortly before renewed violence broke out, rendering the community inaccessible.
“This preventive vaccination campaign was the biggest ever undertaken by MSF in CAR and one of the first aimed at protecting under five-year-olds against so many diseases,” MSF’s Dr Anne-Marie Pegg said.
“Given the situation in CAR right now, one of the main lessons learnt from the campaign is ‘do it while you can’, meaning taking advantage of every opportunity you have to reach children to protect them through vaccination combined with other preventive measures.”
In total, more than a million vaccine doses were administered to under five-year-olds. As well as ensuring lifelong protection from illnesses such as diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, influenza, hepatitis B, pneumococcus, yellow fever and measles, MSF conducted nutritional screening, provided medication for malaria treatment and vitamins, de-worming treatments and distributed soap and mosquito nets.
Follow-up studies conducted by MSF immunisation staff show that coverage in areas targeted by campaigns has significantly improved, with vaccination coverage following the first round above 80%. – MSF