WINDHOEK – The Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi, is dissatisfied with the 80 to 90 percent coverage of the National Immunisation Days (NIDs) campaign saying Namibia is not doing as well as he “would love to see”.
The NIDs, held twice each year, target children under five for immunisation and vaccination for polio, the supply of vitamin A, which is essential for the functioning of the immune system, and sometimes deworming. This is in addition to routine vaccination and immunisation services at health facilities depending on age.
Kamwi said that during the NIDs his ministry is faced with challenges related to manpower and logistics. In the northern regions coverage goes up to over a hundred percent, according to Kamwi. This is because Angolans are included, Kamwi explained. He revealed this on Tuesday in a meeting with a delegation of the Windhoek Rotary Club, as well as a visiting Rotarian from South Africa. The delegation donated two polio vaccine transporter boxes and a fridge to store polio vaccines to the Ministry of Health and Social Services.
Frank Schwardmann, a representative of the PolioPlus committee of the Rotary Club said the club would lend a helping hand in polio related campaigns and activities, as well as other health related matters if called upon.
Kamwi expressed appreciation for the gesture and the donation. “When you bring to us ammunition of this nature (referring to the donation) you have brought to us the best,” Kamwi said.
In addition, he said the donation would be handed to a yet to be identified region based on need. Only three countries remain endemic with the polio virus, namely Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan mainly due to religious bias, ignorance and anti-Western political ideologies. Some muslim clerics view polio vaccination as ‘un-Islamic’ and charge that it contains the virus that causes AIDS or could make children sterile, a battle of words that is frustrating the World Health Organisation’s efforts to eradicate the disease.
However, as far as Kamwi is concerned as long as polio cases are reported in any country in the world, Namibia remains at risk even though the country enjoys polio-free status at present.
Since making the pledge in 1985 to eradicate polio – its most ambitious programme to date – Rotary International in partnership with health agencies has brought the number of cases of polio down by 99 percent. The disease is caused by the polio virus and often results in the limbs of the victim becoming limp and disfigured. The paralysis is almost always irreversible. Historically, polio has been the world’s greatest cause of disability.
By Alvine Kapitako