Drop in child immunisations – experts warn of disease resurgence

Recent data shows that many facilities have seen child inoculations drop in numbers over the past year, indicating challenges within the healthcare system and within vulnerable communities.

Of particular concern is the uptake of the Hexavalent vaccine that protects children against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, poliomyelitis, Haemophilus, influenza type B and hepatitis B.

Child immunisations, a critical shield against preventable diseases for the general public, have taken a knock over the past year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. So warns the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef ) following their release of a report showing early signs of kinks in the child immunisation machinery as a result of Covid-19. The drop in routine immunisation coverage among children under five years of age, over the past 13 months, could lead to a resurgence of vaccine-preventable childhood diseases, as community vaccination coverage is com-promised, Unicef experts have warned.

The 12 priority districts were situated in all nine provinces, including areas such as Johannesburg, Tshwane, Cape Town, Durban, East London and Gqeberha, all of which were labelled Covid-19 infection hotspots over the past year. A Friday morning is a good time to see at least 20 families waiting at the Rahima Moosa Mother and Child Hospital which houses a day clinic for new mothers and children up to the age of 12.

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Though disturbances in routine have been experienced sporadically over the past year due to the pandemic, this facility has relatively kept its head above water according to mothers who make use of its service. Lines are surprisingly shorter on some days, says one mother. She suspects this is due to some people being unable to take their children to immunise them on time.

At most, parents here have had personal disturbances related to Covid-19 such as job losses and moving to other homes which have compromised their ability to immunise their children. According to Unicef South Africa representative Christine Muhugna, the latest department of health data shows that measles second dose and Hexavalent third dose coverage falls consistently below the respective 90% and 80% targets needed for maximum effect. This data was taken from 12 priority districts in South Africa from November 2020 to January this year.

Unicef’s analysis found that out of the 12 districts, only three met the measles second dose target, but none of them across all three months, and only two met the Hexavalent third dose coverage target of 80% in all three months. – simnikiweh@citizen.co.za