BCC rolls out immunisation programme

TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO

The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) in partnership with CORDID International this week launched an extensive immunisation programme targeting children aged five and below to prevent them from killer diseases.

The first phase kicked off on Monday this week and will end tomorrow.

The next round will commence at the end of this month with another one coming in March.

“The city of Bulawayo is currently conducting an exercise of opportunities to children under five years old to catch up on any vaccines that they may have missed that are aimed at preventing outbreaks of diseases that affect the under-fives. As a city we have partnered with CORDID and we are conducting a citywide immunisation exercise where all under-fives will be given the opportunity to catch on any vaccinations that they may have missed,” BCC spokesperson, Nesisa Mpofu said.

She said the exercise is being conducted in three rounds on a monthly basis and these rounds consist of five days per round.

“It is an intensified immunisation programme and it means that we will be looking at ensuring that as many children as possible are vaccinated within the city of Bulawayo. It is important our children are able to get these vaccines so that we minimise and reduce outbreaks of vaccine preventable disease,” Mpofu said.

The vaccination exercise comes after reports of children dying following the measles outbreak across the country.

According to UNICEF, vaccines help protect children and adolescents from serious, often fatal illnesses.

Diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis B, poliovirus, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), haemophilus, pneumococcal, rotavirus, measles, mumps, rubella and human papillomavirus are preventable childhood diseases by a vaccine.