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Vaccination of Children Forgotten Amid COVID-19

Vaccinations against childhood infectious diseases minimise the mortality risk of two-thirds of children under five. Graphic by The Citizen Bulletin


BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI | @The_CBNews | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | MAR 5, 2021

As the country hypes about vaccination against COVID-19, children under five may become a casualty of a broken health system during lockdowns.


MATABELELAND NORTH (The Citizen Bulletin) — Sibonile Hadebe from Tohwe village in Nkayi, a mother of three months old twins, is yet to get her children immunised.

Hadebe, who gave birth to her babies at home in December 2020, says she tried to visit some local clinics next to her village but was turned away.


“I went to Sesemba clinic, which is closer to my village, to have them checked two weeks after birth, and the response was that the clinic had run out of vaccinations.”
Sibonile Hadebe, mother of three-months-old twins


“I was then advised to take them to Nkayi main hospital, and before l could prepare, we heard people announcing that it was now an offence to be seen leaving your homestead and this is why they have not vaccinated or examined by a doctor,” adds Hadebe who believes she also has an infection from giving birth.

Children under five are reportedly missing crucial vaccinations to prevent child killer diseases, health watchdogs have established.

Zimbabwe had been under COVID-19 lockdowns since the end of March last year. However, the restrictions have come with unintended consequences as young infants, especially in remote areas like Nkayi and Binga, no longer have access to vaccinations.

Itai Rusike, the Community Working Group on Health executive, says his organisation has been receiving reports that children are not only failing to access vaccinations care services but are also struggling to have a healthy diet to supplement their growth.

“This is a nation-wide observation according to our findings, and it is affecting our remote children who are below five,” Rusike says.

“Some children have not received any vaccinations since birth while some stopped about a year ago, and this is a cause for concern that our health ministry should look at under this on-going lockdown.”

From the Binga district, Letwin Mumpande, a 35-year-old mother from Nsungwale village, says her four-year-old daughter has not only missed out on vaccinations but proper diet supplements.


“Our roads that connect to Binga main hospital were destroyed by the floods in February last year, and that has cut us from getting the rest of the services such as health and grocery shopping.”
Letwin Mumpande, mother to a 4-year-old daughter


In 2020, flood struck Binga destroying roads, bridges and homes. Image by Binga Residents Association


“Iphithule (daughter) was supposed to be vaccinated against measles last year, and up to now, she hasn't. Our clinic was destroyed when the floods swept away our homesteads, so even though few structures remained; the nursing staff has nothing there. Some have even neglected attending some patients because of the conditions of the buildings and lack of treatment.”

Mumpande says with the current lifting of the COVID-19 restrictions, she plans to take another route to get her child vaccinated.

“Some go as far as Gokwe, and this is what I'll be doing. She is not growing fast like other children, and the nurse told me that she is malnourished, so l want to buy her food supplements such as peanut butter for her to grow normally.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), through its 2020 initiated Extended Program on Immunization (EPI), the organisation says an estimated 5.3 million children under the age of five have died worldwide, the highest being in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The report says more than half of these deaths are preventable or can be handled with simple, affordable interventions, including immunisation, proper nutrition, clean water, and food.

“Vaccinations against childhood infectious diseases minimise the mortality risk of two-thirds of children under five,” the report reads.


ALSO READ: COVID-19 Forces Residents To Migrate To Rural Areas


Pneumonia and diarrhoea, which are listed as the leading causes of under-five deaths, can be avoided by vaccination.

“Vaccination is the most cost-effective public health strategy for preventing and eradicating infectious childhood diseases such as measles, pertussis, diphtheria, tetanus, tuberculosis, meningitis, and tuberculosis in children…,” adds the report.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday eased the country’s lockdown measures, paving the way for the informal sector, industry and intercity travel to start operating as usual while adhering to COVID-19 protocol.

President Mnangagwa has said travellers are no longer obliged to produce exemption letters when travelling.


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