Immunisation: Arua tops districts

By Edea Jilda

Arua district immunization coverage stands at 105% as of December 2014, the district health officer, Dr Patrick Anguzu has revealed.

He said the district was performing well in the immunisation against the killer diseases.

Dr. Anguzu attributed the immunization milestone to frequent mobilization and sensitization done by health workers and village health teams whenever there is immunization program.

 “We have been getting some support from organizations like UNICEF to carry out the exercise in some parts of the district which have not been doing well so that they improve,” he added.

The district health officer however said they have been encountering some challenges in the immunization programme like dilapidated fridges that store the drugs.

He encouraged residents of Arua to always embrace government programs meant to improve their health.

Statistics from the health ministry show that the countrywide immunization coverage jumped from 52% in 2011 to 98% currently.

The ministry and World Health Organisation in 2002 increased the number of immunizable diseases in Uganda from the traditional six to eight before the baby attains one year. They include measles, polio, tuberculosis, whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis B, influenza B and diphtheria.

Approximately 1.5 million babies are born in Uganda each year. The country spends over sh38.2b on immunization every year, sh26b of which comes from the Global Alliance for Vaccines Initiative (GAVI).