The Supplementary Immunization Activity rollout in Rabaul District of East New Britain province hopes to address the accessibility of maternal and newborn health care to communities.
This week, health workers comprising of 10 teams under the Rabaul Provincial Hospital (RPH), Gelagela Health Centre and Rabaul town urban clinic, are now wrapping up the immunization program which kicked off in May.
District Health Coordinator, Garry Mano said according to schedule, this week will cover mop-up which includes verification of data collected during the first two weeks of the rollout.
“In the first two weeks, we saw that there are still many children in our target population in the communities that need to be immunized and were not reached due to various factors such the wet season and in-house issues. So we have strategized to go door to door.”
He said the Rabaul District Administration through its DDA allocated funding through its health facility support to drive the outreach program in the district due to the low coverage in the past years and the need to increase accessibility to these services to the communities.
“I am appealing to ward members and ward development committees to assist health officers as they are moving into respective wards, make time for them and collaborate to collect vital data that must be captured to help in future planning and programs,” Mr Mano said.
“I am once again appealing to families is that your children’s health is too precious. Vaccines are free, safe, and effective in keeping them healthy. By keeping up to date with vaccines, you are giving your children a shot at a brighter future,” the district health coordinator said.
Mr Mano said Gelagela Health Centre has 16 clinic points, Rabaul Urban has 13 and RPH has 11 clinic points and urged those in these vicinities to bring your child forward to get immunized.