Central Province Permanent Secretary Denny Lumbama has called on all parents in the province to take the Child Health Week and Measles Campaign very seriously and ensure that their children are vaccinated against measles and other serious diseases.
Mr. Lumbama said parents should take advantage of this week because government has prioritized the health of every child by establishing health facilities and trained personnel to provide free and quality care to both the newly –born and growing children in the country.
He was speaking this morning during the launch of the Child Health Week and Measles Campaign held at Makululu’s Kalungu Market in Kabwe.
The Permanent Secretary said because Child Health Week was intended for all parents that had children less than five years, all parents with children in this respect should ensure that their children are vaccinated according to the schedule on their child health clinic cards.
He said Child Health Week was a deliberate and supplementary exercise that was expected to capture not only children in the remotest parts of the country through outreach activities.
He therefore urged parents to take the week seriously because the campaign would not only benefit their children but even them because they would be able to get more information from health workers about nutrition, family planning and the general well-being of their children.
Mr. Lumbama said in this Health Week, Measles vaccination was more pronounced because there were a lot of measles outbreaks that were being reported from different parts of the country in the last few weeks and most of the children affected were those aged between 9 months and 4 years old.
He said Kabwe District has not been left out but has also reported a few cases of Measles and in order to curtail such a serious epidemic, government through the Ministry of Health has taken advantage of the Child health Week Exercise to fulfill its obligation of protecting other children from contracting the disease.
He further advised parents to follow instructions from health workers and avoid contact with children suspected to be suffering from measles whenever they head of an outbreak saying Measles among the five major diseases that killed and lowered the children’s’ immunity in the world.
He added that his passionate appeal was that all parents that had children aged between 9 months and 4 years old were taken to nearest health posts for vaccination against measles because that was the only sure way to mitigate the scourge.
Mr. Lumbama finally expressed gratitude at the reports reaching his office that a good number of husbands were spotted accompanying their wives to the vaccination centers and encouraged other men to be in the fore-front of fighting Measles by emulating their counterparts.
And Kabwe District Medical Officer Doctor Abel Kabalo has called for continued partnership between government and cooperating partners.
Dr. Kabalo said the Ministry of Health was especially grateful to Mirage Media for organizing this Health Week which has captured more than 200 children in the district.
He said the health of every child was very to the development of the country hence the need for other cooperating partners to come aboard and support important programmes that centered on the health of children such Child Health Week.
He said Child Health Week was not the concern of the Ministry of Health alone because children’s health affected everyone and as such, programmes bordering on children and other health issues needed conceited efforts.
Dr. Kabalo therefore appealed to NGO’s and other stakeholders to support the Ministry of Health in any means possible in order to enhance the children’s health as well as mitigate issues that affected them.
ZANIS
