Mozambique: 8.2 million children vaccinated in UN-supported effort

Around 8.2 million children have been inoculated against measles and polio in Mozambique, with around 3.4 million receiving vitamin A supplements, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) said today.

The objective of the national campaign was contribute to the elimination of measles and polio as well as to the reduction of illnesses caused by Vitamin A deficiency, Paulo Ivo Garrido, the Mozambican Minister of Health, said last night at a press conference held in the country's capital, Maputo, to thank those responsible for the effort, including UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Dr. Garrido said that a total of 8, 189,159 children were vaccinated against measles. In addition, 4,391,090 children received a first dose of polio vaccine and 4,305,987 received a second dose, and 3,398,535 children received vitamin A supplements.

The national vaccination campaign took place in two phases: during the first round, children were vaccinated against measles and received a first dose of the polio vaccine in addition to Vitamin A supplementation. The second phase took place a month later and only consisted of a second dose of polio vaccine.

The campaign included a huge social mobilisation in collaboration with the media aiming at informing all parents and other guardians of children about the need to take children to receive vaccination against measles and polio in addition to receiving Vitamin A supplementation.

Funds for the campaign were made available by the Government of Mozambique through the state budget and the fund Pro Saúde as well as through the International Measles partnership. The total cost amounted to approximately $8.5 million.

The International Measles Partnership includes the American Red Cross, UNICEF, WHO, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the UN Foundation.