MUSHINDANO RESIDENTS RESIST VACCINATION
HEALTH authorities in Mushibdamo are facing resistance from residents regarding any vaccinations due to misleading information.
Mushindamo district health director, Edgar Mutimushi, said some people in communities were misleading others hence making it difficult for health personnel to operate.
He said it was becoming difficult to convince people to take drugs under the mass drug administration programme because many community members believed that they were being given medicine which would cause covid-19 or other diseases.
He was speaking during a stakeholders meeting on mass drug administration against lymphatic filariasis.
“So, as a ministry we are very concerned with the situation because almost every programme is meeting resistance from the people.
“We have had various massive immunization and vaccinations against various diseases among citizens, but we have been failing to the target because of the same tendency by our people,” he said.
Dr Mutimushi called on various stakeholders, including traditional leaders, teachers, community workers and church leaders to help disseminate correct information to the public.
He said programmes worked well if they were embraced in the community, hence the need to convince people especially during the covid-19 pandemic era.
Dr Mutimushi said lymphatic lilariasis also known as elephantiasis can cause a lot of pain and in some cases disability and that was why Government always administered drugs that help to treat the disease.
Meanwhile, Mushindamo District Commissioner Sylvia Kalamba called on the people to have faith in the programmes run by Ministry of Health.
Ms Kalamba said the ministry of health was instituted to carefully look at the health and well-being of the people.
“I get surprised with people that think health workers will cause them harm because what I know is that the ministry of health and its workers are there to save life and not to kill,” she said.
She warned that government would not tolerate any individual spreading false information regarding government programmes.