Immunisation falls short at Transkei clinics

THE first indication that the government’s National Health Insurance (NHI) might be failing has surfaced, with a damning report claiming that the Eastern Cape Department of Health is failing to vaccinate babies properly.

The SA Medical Journal (SAMJ), which claims to have monitored the immunisation of 470 children born between April 2013 and May 2015 in the OR Tambo district, found that the province was failing to provide primary healthcare.

The district is where the government has been piloting the NHI project, aimed at providing essential healthcare to everyone regardless of their status in society.

The government has pinned its hopes on the NHI and has pumped billions of rands into it.

When it was launched in Mthatha, the government and experts hailed it as a solution in delivering improved healthcare services.

The 470 children were born at Mqanduli’s Zithulele Hospital, in 10 clinics and at home.

“Immunisation rates in the rural Eastern Cape are well below government targets and indicate inadequate provision of basic primary care,” the report said.

“Stock-outs of basic childhood immunisation are common and are, according to mothers, the main reason for their children’s immunisations not being up to date.”

Children under the age of two in the OR Tambo region were not being immunised at the rates dictated by the national department, the report said.

But provincial health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said: “We reject the claim.

“The national Department of Health provided sufficient vaccines to cover over 85% of the estimated cohorts – the required level.

“To assess the validity of the claim, one has to evaluate the methods used, sample population and what data was collected.”

The SAMJ said women who travelled to the hospital from outside the targeted areas for the study were excluded because of lack of resources for regular follow-up of women further afield.

“A total of 493 women fulfilled the inclusion criteria,” it said. In all, 470 mother-infant pairs were evaluated. “The age range of the women was 14 to 52, with 77 of the women under 18.”

The SAMJ study was conducted by researchers from several universities around the world, including South Africa and the US.

Of those covered in the study, 56% of the women whose children did not have all their immunisations blamed stock-outs at the clinic.