Trans Nzoia County has been put on the spot over the inability of parents to take their children to health centres to be immunized, increasing the risk of diseases. While speaking to press, the Community Health Officer for vaccination in Trans Nzoia County Angeline Atieno expressed concern that communicable diseases might spread in the County following the failure of parents to embrace vaccination.
She noted that the immunization rate in the County currently stands at 86%, adding that the remaining 14% is still a huge percentage. On his part, her counterpart Gregory Onyango cited reasons for this, which include the Covid-19 pandemic which has made parents fear to visit health centres. He said some health centres have been fully converted to quarantine centres, while some parents have bene strained financially by the pandemic. He said another reason is the insistence on following religious dogma, and as a result, some communities totally oppose immunization.
Other issues include understaffing of healthcare workers in several health facilities in the County, which has increased the strain on service delivery, poor infrastructure since some roads are impassable and poor funding of vaccination programmes. They however explained that measures have been put in place to counter these challenges, including advocacy communication and social mobilization. Other solutions to counter the difficulties include visiting schools that have resumed classes to educate students on the importance of immunization.
They noted educating the kids helps since they also communicate the same with their parents at home. MPs and Senators are also sought to play their role, especially when it comes to seeking adequate funding for vaccination programmes.