Measles vaccination campaign rolled out

THE Ministry of Health and Child Care has rolled out the second phase of the measles vaccination campaign.

This comes after the first phase launched last year to control measles through tracking of cases in the community and supplementary immunisation activities.

The second phase of the measles vaccination campaign commenced this Wednesday and will run until the tenth.

Under the first phase, the government in partnership with UNICEF and World Health Organisation employed different strategies to reach out to various church groups, including those who object to vaccination.

As a result, over two million 292 898 children under the age of five were vaccinated across the country.

Under the second phase, the Ministry is targeting over 600 000 children between five and 14 years in eight priority districts that recorded high numbers of infections.

Ministry of Health and Child Care spokesperson Mr Donald Mujiri stressed the importance of such campaigns in ensuring children are protected from the killer disease.

"The outbreak has been controlled but the Ministry is going ahead in implementing the second phase of measles outbreak response vaccination from the 30th of January to the 10th of February 2023."

The priority districts are Chipinge, Chiredzi, Gutu, Bikita, Mwenezi, Chikomba and Goromonzi.

Measles is a severe disease caused by a virus and can be spread through coughing, sneezing and close contact with an infected person.