Special Measles-Rubella Immunisation Camp Set up at Mulago Hospital

The Ministry of Health has put in place a Measles-Rubella Immunization camp at Mulago Referral Hospital for children who missed out on the exercise.

“If your child, who is between nine months to 15 years was not immunised, we have put up an immunization post at Mulago Referral Hospital,” said Health Minister Dr Ruth Aceng in a brief media statement on Thursday.

“Please take your child and have them immunised,” she emphasised.

The ministry earlier this week concluded a nationwide immunization exercise to counter measles, rubella and polio.

Measles and Rubella are highly infectious diseases and among the leading causes of ill health and deaths among children in Uganda.

A number of districts in Uganda had not reached the 95 percent measles immunization coverage which is necessary for the interruption of measles transmission.

Additionally, the country has experienced continued outbreaks of measles and Rubella since 2016 to date.

Before the massive immunisation exercise, 109 districts from 2016 reported measles outbreak while 59 districts reported Rubella in the same period.

Aceng today warned individuals against decampaigning the immunisation exercise, saying it’s for the well-being of children.

“Your one unimmunized child can cause trouble for all the other children,” said the Minister.

“Every parent should take the responsibility of ensuring that their child is immunised because if the child gets sick, it will be your own loss,” she added.

World Health Organisation, which is supporting the exercise, recently disclosed that immunization strengthens a child’s ability to fight measles and Rubella and reduces the chances of suffering from the same diseases.

Immunization also prevents complications such as hearing problems, development delays and blindness in children and enables them to perform better at school.