Fight against maternal and infant mortality continues

Cameroon is determined to reach its goal of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4 and 5 which is to reduce child mortality rate by two-thirds and more than half (¾) of maternal mortality rate.

The Ministry of Health organized the first session of a one week health campaign on Child and Maternal Nutrition (SASNIM) coupled with the African Vaccination Week (SAV) from July 3 to 5.

By the end of the one week program, the team had achieved a lot at some Yaoundé neighbourhoods by educating the people and doing some health screenings. The walls and gates of houses were marked with ‘SASNIM 1’and a number representing the number of children vaccinated against polio.

For the MOH, whose objective is to reach out to as many children as possible and to educate parents on vaccinating their children aged 0 to 5 years, it is a proof of the door to door vaccination exercise.

In Yaoundé, the awareness campaign was conducted at health districts, markets and some places of worship. "This is a good initiative for careless parents who forget to vaccinate their children. Through these campaigns, my children have been vaccinated at home,” said Anita Bell.

For this first operation in 2015, vitamin A was given to children who were aged six months to five years and all those aged one to five years were dewormed. Regarding pregnant women from four months and above, the team educated them on the intermittent preventive treatment of malaria.

Children between 0 and 11 months, in 13 districts,who had not been vaccinated were given vaccinations. Pregnant women who did not have their immunization schedule as part of the Expanded Programme on Immunization (PEV) routine also had the opportunity to go through the process.

Since Cameroon has faced a lot of horrors from Boko Haram and hosts many refugees, there were malnutrition screenings in children aged one to five years in the Far North. The districts were two in Adamawa and the rest in the East.

Dr. Grace Mbambole Alake, Deputy Director of Immunization for Family Health, discussed further intensification of epidemiological surveillance activities to reach the stage of eradication of polio in Cameroon, although the country has been declared non-exporter of extreme polio virus.

"This campaign aims to provide an integrated array of high-impact interventions to reduce morbidity and mortality rate among women and children," she reiterated.

The second campaign will be in December for the second round of immunization and health screenings.