April 30 2015, Nairobi - The World Immunization Week (WIW) in Kenya kicked off with strong calls for commitment, responsibility for the protection of children’s life and the need to decisively address resistance to immunization programmes.

Speakers who included the health Cabinet Secretary, partners and stakeholders also made appeals for parents, guardians, the government and the public to make choices that best protect children.
“Ignore the misinformation that vaccines are unsafe because such people don’t mean well and are not motivated by public interest,” Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia told stakeholders, partners and the media attending the WIW launch on Monday.

“They are taking the liberties we have in our country too far,” he added. He urged journalists to embrace their role in educating the public about the value of immunization services.

“Ignore the misinformation that states that vaccines are unsafe”

Save our Children from Vaccine Preventable Diseases

The calls came at the backdrop of low health indicators that point at children’s increased
vulnerability and resistance from religious groups, especially the Catholic Church which made
allegations last October that the TT vaccine was unsafe. The World Immunization Week is celebrated annually during the last week of every April and has been celebrated from April 24-30 this year.

It is commemorated to raise awareness on the life-saving value of immunization. It is also commemorated to increase vaccination coverage especially by reaching the underserved
and marginalized communities and to reinforce the medium and long term benefits/gains of immunization and other child survival interventions. The week is also referred to as African Vaccination Week in the African region.

The WIW launch in Kenya was a moment for confronting realities including the declining immunization figures and firmly addressing the resistance. The recently launched Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) 2014 show that the proportion of fully immunized child has declined since 2008 - 09, from 77 percent of children to 68 percent in 2014 (KDHS).

“This is not acceptable! We are failing our children and making them vulnerable to vaccine preventable diseases,” Dr Custodia Mandlhate, WHO Country Representative said.

This means that only 68 percent of children aged 12-23 months is fully vaccinated with BCG, measles, pentavalent, polio, and pneumococcal vaccines, she added.

Preventable diseases include diarrheal diseases, Pneumonia, Measles, Polio, Whooping Cough, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Meningitis, Yellow fever, Hepatitis B, Tuberculosis, and Cervical cancer (caused by human papillomavirus).

Dr Pirkko Heinonen the Unicef Acting Representative noted only 73% of neonates were protected at birth from neonatal tetanus, yet the third round of TT campaigns intended to reach those who were always missed had been postponed. “We must all increase our commitment to reaching all the children and pregnant women in Kenya”.

Devolved Government can Address Gaps in Immunization

Kenya is among the few countries in the Region that stands behind the elimination of Maternal and Neo-natal Tetanus (MNT).

Dr Mandlhate made a strong appeal on behalf of the UN family and appealed to the government and all partners to make effort to address the resistance to immunization programmes. The resistance, she add-ed, disrupted progress made in child survival and the country’s health agenda.
She noted the devolved government was a good avenue for acceleration plans and identified gaps once information is well used for decision making, and availability of appropriate resources
“We appeal to you to exercise your leadership and stewardship role. You are the custodians of the health of Kenya population. You have the policies and strategies. You are accountable for the successes and the failures in the attainment of the Universal Health Coverage agenda. Please take the right decisions at the right time,”Dr Mandlhate said.

She also urged parents to get their children vaccinated against all vaccine preventable diseases adding: “Remember immunization is the most cost effective intervention.”

The launch was also addressed by the immunization Ambassador, Senator Harold Kipchumba who made an earnest appeal for the protection of children from vaccine preventable diseases.
“Diseases kill and if you are lucky to survive you have a lifetime disability. Disability is painful, it is dehu-manizing, it robs one of their potential, ” he said.

Join Efforts to silence the ‘No Immunization’ Voices

No one knows better than Ambassador Harold Kipchumba, who is a polio survivor. He said: “Most of the immunizable diseases are very disabling and it has made my life painful and sad. Let us not slow the rate, skip or stop immunization. It is not about us only……”

Dr Mandlhate assured the public that the vaccines used in Kenya routine immunization programme and supplementary immunization activities (campaigns) were safe and of excellent quality.
“Vaccines used all over the World, are WHO-prequalified and therefore the safety and quality is as-sured. The prequalification programme includes, regular and periodic assessments including the manu-facturing site inspections and vaccine testing,” she added.

She commended the Government of Kenya through the MOH for its long lasting Routine Immunization programme, the introduction of new vaccines already done for Pneumococcus (PCV) in 2011, Rotavirus Vaccine in July 2014, the introduction of HPV (Prevention of cervical cancer) and the planned introduc-tion of IPV (Injectable Polio virus vaccine) in July 2015.

“We also want to commend all the efforts made to stop the circulation of the Wild polio virus after im-portation in 2013.”