As part of Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) towards contributing to the herd immunity of the Northern Cape Community and well-being of learners in schools. Today, the Northern Cape Health MEC, Mr. Maruping Lekwene together with the Education MEC, Mr. Zolile Monakali conducted an oversight visit at Roodepan and St Peters Primary School in Kimberley, to monitor the roll-out of Measles vaccination programme and catch-up in schools and ECD Centres.
The national measles campaign started yesterday, 6 February and will run until 31st March 2023. This campaign is conducted as one round of one dose for all children from 6 months to 15 years. The province is expected to reach at least 95% of measles coverage of 393 310 children.
It is worth noting that in the Northern Cape, the drop-out rates of Measles remain high, with seven (7) positive Measles cases in the province. The districts that account for cases are as follows; FB (4), ZFM (2) and PKS (1) and no fatalities have been reported thus far.
Priority attention is also given to administer catch-up doses to all children who missed their routine supplemental doses of Vitamin A and Deworming, during the course of this immunization programme, all districts are to reach 80%. Targets for Vitamin A and Deworming are based on number of children missing routine doses.
Measles is a highly contagious disease caused by measles virus. Patients with Measles present with fever and with a rash. The rash looks like small, red, flat spots that starts on the face/head and then spreads downwards over the body. The rash does not form blisters, nor is it itchy or painful. Other signs include cough, conjunctivitis (red eyes) and coryza (running nose).
Disruptions of routine immunization services brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the longstanding challenges in vaccine preventable disease (VPD) surveillance performance. From Jan to July 2022, reported positive measles cases are three times higher than the pre-Covid-19 years with the highest measles incidence rate of 1.4. The target for measles incidence rate is ≤ 1 case per 1,000,000 populations and historically this rate ranges between 0.3 to 0.8 when there is no reported outbreak during the same reporting period.Any person who is not immune to measles can catch measles from an infected person. Once a person has had measles, they are immune to the virus. Vaccination is another way to become immune to measles.
Vaccinated individuals are protected from severe symptoms of measles, mostly for the rest of their life. Communities become vulnerable to outbreaks of measles when more than 5% of persons are not vaccinated.
In terms of vaccine availability, the department has enough vaccines on stock. Cold chain will be maintained at all times from vaccine fridges to cooler boxes according to the specifications of the World Health Organization. This is to ensure that vaccines are kept at an appropriate temperature level.
In addition, the Department of Health has bolstered its human resource capacity with appointment of 34 professional nurses and 6 data capturers on contract, to manage the vaccination of learners at schools and ECD center for the said period.
The Departments appeal with all parents/guardians to urgently sign and return the consent form provided to all learners by the school and All Early Child Development Centers (ECD) eligible for immunization of measles.
This is to grant the health workers permission to immunize their children.
If the child does not have written documentation of measles vaccination, they can take the child to the nearest health facility to get vaccinated with measles vaccine. For those who lost or misplaced their children’s Road To Health Book (RTHB), they can still receive the measles vaccination.
For enquiries, contact:
Mr Lebogang Majaha
Media Liaison Officer
Northern Cape Department of Health
071 8836404
Mr Geoffrey Van Der Merwe
Media Liaison Officer
Northern Department of Education
072 756 7150
