Monrovia, Liberia – Within the Kessely Boulevard group, Shedrick Barlee, a 36-year-old father, clutches his one-year-old son, Blessed Barlee, as a healthcare employee prepares to manage the measles vaccine. . Since 2021 Liberia has been battling an outbreak of measles due largely to interruption of routine immunization on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. At complete of 13,334 circumstances and 95 deaths had been recorded by Liberia’s nationwide public well being institute. To regulate the outbreak and defend extra lives, the Ministry of well being with help of WHO, UNICEF, GAVI and Rotary Liberia applied a seven-day nationwide measles marketing campaign from twenty fifth November to 2nd December 2024 focusing on all eligible youngsters from the age group 9-59 months.
“Once I heard in regards to the marketing campaign, I knew I needed to carry my son to get the vaccine. As a father, I needed to guard him from the sickness and permit him to have a wholesome future,” Shedrick mentioned, holding his son shut. “I’m grateful to the Ministry of Well being for offering this vaccine to our youngsters. Now that my son is protected, I really feel relieved that he won’t get sick. I’ll all the time do my finest to maintain him wholesome,” he added.
Throughout the 15 counties of Liberia, dad and mom like Shedrick took their younger youngsters to guard them from measles. Over the 7-day immunization marketing campaign, a complete of 781,124 youngsters had been vaccinated, exceeding the preliminary goal of 779,789. The preliminary information from the sector exhibits that 14 out of the 15 counties exceeded the 95% vaccination goal, with 92 out of the 98 taking part districts reaching the 95% goal or greater.
“This vaccination marketing campaign is essential since we’ve skilled a number of measles outbreaks over the previous years. To make sure its success, we labored carefully with the Ministry of Training, group, and spiritual leaders to sensitize and educate dad and mom in regards to the measles vaccine. Along with mounted vaccination websites, we put in place cell groups visiting faculties, markets, church buildings, and mosques to make sure no little one is left behind.” mentioned Dr. Jewel T. Kollie, Monrovia County Well being Officer. “Our sturdy workforce on the county degree, in collaboration with WHO and UNICEF, has additionally been instrumental within the planning and execution of those immunization actions.” she added.
WHO performed a pivotal function within the profitable implementation of the measles vaccination marketing campaign by offering important technical and monetary help. WHO coordinated the implementation of actions at each the nationwide and county ranges by means of its area and nationwide groups. To make sure efficient supervision, WHO additionally supported the county well being groups by offering gasoline for his or her automobiles and bikes. Moreover, WHO facilitated the environment friendly transportation of the measles vaccines to southern counties by way of air transport and supplied automobiles for the motion of vaccines and associated supplies inside the 15 counties of Liberia.
“WHO is dedicated to supporting Liberia in its efforts to remove measles,” mentioned Roland Tuopileyi, WHO Liberia EPI Officer. “By offering these important assets and technical experience, we purpose to guard the well being and well-being of all Liberian youngsters.” To evaluate the effectiveness of this marketing campaign, WHO will even recruit a world marketing consultant to conduct a post-campaign survey.
Measles is a extremely contagious respiratory sickness unfold by a virus, and might result in severe problems and deaths, particularly amongst younger, malnourished youngsters. Neighborhood-wide vaccination is the simplest and protected approach to forestall the illness.