Africa-Press – Botswana. Gaborone District has exceeded the WHO (national) target for 5-in-1 vaccine, immunising 108 per cent of eligible children, against the international health agency’s 95 per cent.
Principal Health Officer Ms Diane Oabile, who reported for the District Health Management Team (DHMT) told the ongoing full session of Gaborone City Council Tuesday, that the figure was proof health campaigns were effective.
The vaccine, also called Pentavalent, provides protection against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), which causes meningitis (Hib).
Sadly, she said, thousands of children five years and below had not received their rota-virus and pneumococcal vaccinations, which placed them at risk of becoming seriously ill or dying from the diseases.
She said vaccinations were woefully low at 30 and 16 per cent respectively, with any stock that became available being quickly outstripped by demand, even as supply remained intermittent.
She expressed hope that supply would improve soon, adding there was no need for anybody to panic as no serious case had been reported resulting from lack of vaccination as yet.
With regard to Human Papilloma virus vaccinations, Ms Oabile said over 3 000 children were vaccinated against a target of 4 000, making 78.5 per cent coverage.
The figure was below the national target of 85 per cent, hence a second round of vaccinations was planned for this week, she said.
Updating on the COVID-19 situation, Ms Oabile said there were 19 new cases reported, which brought the cumulative number to over 47 000 with two deaths reported.
She urged greater Gaborone residents to test for COVID-19 at health facilities.
With regard to nutrition, she said the number of underweight children for the quarter was 1.8 per cent compared to 1.6 per cent in the previous one, which nonetheless was within the set target of below 3 per cent.
Ms Oabile said the percentage of children who needed to be on ration during the reporting period had increased to 50.3 per cent compared to 30.5 per cent the previous quarter.
Touching on the troublesome issue of drug availability, she said average availability stood at 55 per cent over the period, a 10 percent increase from the previous quarter.
Availability of vital drugs stood at 70 per cent and over 61 per cent for essential ones, she said.
Ms Oabile said the DHMT would continue to order from the Central Medical Stores and procure locally when necessary.
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