It was the first time that child health days campaign had reached the displaced communities in the Corridor and at least 46,000 children under-five and 37,000 women of child-bearing age benefited during the five-day campaign, according to a statement from the UN organization received here Thursday.
Afgoye currently hosts over 524,000 displaced people, who were driven out of their homes due to the conflict in Mogadishu and the south. The refugees are enduring harsh living conditions and lack even the most basic social services.
The Child Health Days Campaigns are implemented across Somalia with support from UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO), in close collaboration with local authorities and NGO partners.
In a country where routine immunization coverage is among the lowest in the world, the nation-wide intervention aims to immunize every under-five child against measles, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough and tetanus
This is in addition to provision of Vitamin A, de-worming tablets and nutritional screening for referral of malnourished children to feeding programmes. Women of child bearing are also immunized against neonatal tetanus.
The Child Health Days package also includes oral rehydration salts to treat diarrhea and water purification tablets.
'Our joint success in implementing this large-scale outreach in the Afgoye are a is a testament to how we can make a difference in Somalia even in the most difficult of circumstances.' said .Rozanne Chorlton, UNICEF Representative to Somalia.
'Afgoye corridor is one of the locations in Somalia where humanitarian access is very challenging, but it is also where the impact of such an intervention is extremely critical due to the high density of population. Therefore bringing the Child Health Days to Afgoye was key priority and thanks to the determination of communities and to UNICEF's and WHO's extended partnerships on the ground, vuln erable children and women were reached with crucial services,' she added.
More than 200 vaccinators and 300 health workers implemented the campaign in Afgoye, making this large-scale programme possible despite poor infrastructure and lack of appropriate health facilities.
The Child Health Days were launched in Somalia in December 2008, reaching during the first round over one million children under five and 800,000 women across the country.
The intervention is repeated every six months to help promote child survival and boost immunization rates, in addition to promoting demand for public health services among communities.
Organisers said the campaign had already contributed to improving immunization rates by achieving coverage of 60 to 80 per cent, while immunization rates in Somalia over the last 10 years have been in the range of 20-30 per cent.
Nairobi - 12/11/2009
Pana
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