Vaccination Week in Tanzania

This week is Vaccination Week  in Tanzania, which commenced on 23^rd April and will end on  28^th April. Nationally this event was held in Mwanza City Northern part of Tanzania under the theme “A  child that is not immunized is one too many. Give polio the final push”. The theme draws attention to the urgent need for accelerated actions to save children from vaccine-preventable diseases.

Actually, this is the opportunity for gender based Civil Society Organizations in disseminating the information about the importance of vaccination. NGO’s like ANPPCAN, AACD, Children Care Development Organization and the like which work directly with households, can do a lot in raising awareness on the value and importance of vaccinations. They can mobilize human, financial, material resources and implement a variety of activities aimed at improving child survival and primary health care interventions.

The challenge is to make the government of Tanzania creditable for progress in stimulating political commitment and mobilizing of community based organizations (CBO’s), as well as financial and technical resources to save the lives of children from measles, polio and other vaccine- preventable diseases. The Envaya team is extending its profound gratitude to CSO’s/CBO’s, development partners and other Member States for their collaborative efforts in this regard.

However, despite the progress made by the government of Tanzania, much still remains to be done in some regions upcountry. There are still many children who are not immunized, prone to infection and unless urgent action is taken, the transmission of vaccine-preventable diseases particularly polio will not be reduced. Therefore the government should directly involve these Civil Society Organizations in providing health education especially in remote areas, and spreading information to people in a wide range.

We ask you “Has your NGO participated or endorsed any efforts in this regard?”....Please participate in this discussion using the comments section below.