Tanzania: Start Mass Immunization Against Measles Now

The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)

27 June 2011

editorial

Why has measles broken out and little is being done to contain it? Why is the ministry of Health and Social Welfare dragging its feet on launching a mass immunisation campaign against it?

The fact that no fewer than 1,573 measles cases have been reported in six Mainland regions since early this year is frightening.

The ministry acknowledges that Arusha, Dar es Salaam, Iringa, Coast, Morogoro and Tanga have high measles cases and 18 people have died of the disease.

Although the government says the country’s measles vaccination rate is 85 per cent, there is still a cause for alarm.

The ministry plans to launch an immunisation drive for children aged between nine months and 15 years in October.

The director of Prevention Services, Dr Donan Mmbando, says the outbreak usually occurs between September and December every year, but it was not noticed last year.

He believes that the current outbreak could be part of what was supposed to happen last year.

If that is the trend, the ministry should have been well prepared to deal with the problem instead of being caught off guard.

We do not know why when the disease broke out in January and the ministry withheld the crucial information for the public until last week, when the situation worsened. It should have embarked on multi-faceted approaches involving various stakeholders to ensure that the immunisation drive is stepped up.

We wonder why should the ministry wait till October to vaccinate children aged nine months and 15 years when the disease is in our midst.

Measles is a viral disease spread through respiration and patients may become blind or lose their lives within days unless they are treated. That being the case the ministry was supposed to act immediately and correctly.

We also call on the ministry to investigate whether the vaccine handling, storage and distribution are done appropriately. Vaccines are weakened pathogens and any poor handling can be disastrous.

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