Damascus-SANA
With the aim of reducing mortality and morbidity rates for children under five years of age, the Ministry of Health is launching the national campaign against measles, rubella and polio from the 9th to the 20th of October.
According to the Director of Primary Health Care at the Ministry, Razan Al-Tarabishi, the polio campaign targets about 2781,000 children, of whom two million and four hundred thousand can be reached, and the measles campaign is two million four hundred and 94 thousand children, including one million one hundred and 96 thousand children who can be reached, noting that the campaign is implemented through 977 centers. There are 793 mobile teams and 57 updated medical points, with the participation of 12,349 health personnel.
Tarabishi pointed out that the polio vaccine is for children from one day old to under five years old, and measles and rubella are for children from 7 months to under five years old.
The Assistant Director of the National Immunization Program, Dr. Lamia Abu Ajaj, gave a presentation on the latest developments in measles and paralysis at the local and regional levels, and the importance of obtaining the vaccine to raise children's immunity, especially since there is a mutated polio mutant in the Middle East, Africa and neighboring countries with its different patterns in the sanitation of these countries and with regard to measles and rubella. If the health coverage rates are low, it could cause a wide spread, pointing out that there are a number of infections in some Syrian governorates, and they are being responded to directly.
Dr. Abu Ajaj confirmed that the vaccine is safe, free, effective, available and recommended by the World Health Organization, and that the immune response to vaccines does not disrupt or affect the response of the immune system of children to Covid 19 and does not prevent common symptoms such as cold, cough, diarrhea, simple fever or Physiological jaundice or the use of antibiotics from vaccination.
Head of the Communication Program, Dr. Manar Kamel, indicated that the communication campaign during the vaccination period is one of the essential elements for the success of the national vaccination program, especially at the present time and the people’s preoccupation, pointing out that communication elements work in all health areas, to deliver health messages to children’s families, where there is an element of communication in all Health center in all governorates.
Rama Rashidi
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