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Un déclin surprenant des chiffres de la vaccination des enfants en Afrique dans le contexte du COVID-19, encore une autre victime de la pandémie

Sharon Quntai · Jun 17, 2022 · Leave a Comment

Day of the African Child 2022

Selon l’UNICEF, 23 millions d’enfants dans le monde n’ont pas reçu de vaccins essentiels dans le cadre des services de vaccination de routine à cause de la pandémie de COVID-19. À l’occasion de la Journée de l’enfant africain, le 16 juin 2022, nous examinons en profondeur la manière dont les enfants africains ont été affectés par ce fléau à travers les yeux des communautés locales. Avec un simple téléphone portable, une formation en ligne et une production et un montage gérés à distance, nous avons interviewé trois personnes sur le terrain en Afrique. Un agent de santé communautaire, un responsable du Programme élargi de vaccination (PEV) et la mère d’un enfant de trois ans.

Pamela Anyango, agent de santé communautaire à Nairobi, au Kenya, raconte son expérience des difficultés liées à la vaccination de routine et comment elle a pu les résoudre. Selon elle, le nombre d’enfants vaccinés dans sa localité a diminué de plus de 44 % au plus fort de la pandémie. Cette baisse drastique a nécessité un changement stratégique dans les efforts de sensibilisation de la communauté. Le contraste frappant entre les chiffres de la vaccination avant et après COVID-19 est représentatif de l’attitude générale de la population vis-à-vis de la vaccination. L’histoire de Pamela montre clairement qu’il faut redoubler d’efforts pour trouver des solutions permettant de relever les défis de la vaccination de routine dans un contexte de bouleversements socio-économiques.

L’histoire de l’Afrique de l’Ouest racontée par le Dr Essono Ngono Paulin, responsable du PEV au Cameroun, montre des similitudes dans le point de vue de la communauté sur la vaccination pendant l’épidémie de COVID-19. Le Dr Paulin a souligné que le fait de s’attaquer aux idées fausses sur les vaccins au niveau local était une méthode efficace pour encourager la vaccination et combattre la peur au sein de la communauté. 

Mbezele Anastasie Estelle, mère d’un fils de trois ans, confirme les propos du responsable du PEV. L’enfant de Mbezele n’a pas reçu son vaccin du 6ème mois, principalement parce que sa mère avait peur de contracter le COVID-19 lors d’une visite à l’hôpital. Les idées fausses sur le COVID-19 semblent être une force puissante dans la réduction du nombre de vaccinations et dans le fait que les mères évitent activement les visites aux centres de santé. C’est pourquoi les efforts d’information et de sensibilisation des communautés doivent être amplifiés de manière cohérente en Afrique pour combattre la désinformation qui prévaut. 

Le droit à l’accès aux soins de santé est un aspect essentiel de l’objectif de la Journée internationale de l’enfant africain. Si l’on tient compte des récits mentionnés plus haut, la pertinence de souligner le déclin de la vaccination des enfants lors de cette journée est évidente. De plus, le fléau du COVID-19 a mis en évidence des lacunes importantes dans les systèmes d’immunisation en Afrique. En outre, ces histoires, qui décrivent la situation réelle sur le terrain, devraient inciter les acteurs clés de la vaccination à prendre des mesures pour encourager l’innovation dans la sensibilisation et la mise en œuvre de protocoles de préparation à la pandémie. 

Il est inconcevable que, selon l’UNICEF, 23 millions d’enfants n’aient pas reçu de vaccins à cause de la pandémie de COVID-19. Ecrivez  à votre représentant local, où que vous soyez dans le monde, et dites nous  ce qu’il en pense !

Soyez indignés avec nous ! 

#DAC2022 #Immunisation #Afrique #Enfants

An astonishing decline in child immunisation numbers in Africa amid the rage of COVID-19, yet another victim of the pandemic

Sharon Quntai · Jun 17, 2022 · Leave a Comment

UNICEF reports that a staggering 23 million children worldwide missed out on essential vaccines through routine immunisation services due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the Day of the African Child, 16th June 2022, we take an in-depth look into how African children were affected by this plight, as seen through the eyes of local communities. With just a mobile phone, some online training and production and editing managed remotely; we interviewed three people on the ground in Africa. A community health worker, an Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) manager, and a three-year-old child’s mother.

Pamela Anyango, a community health worker from Nairobi, Kenya, tells her experience with routine immunisation challenges and how she was able to tackle them. According to her, the number of children immunised in her location declined by over 44% during the height of the pandemic. This decline was a drastic fall in numbers that necessitated a strategic change in community awareness efforts. The stark contrast in immunisation numbers before and after COVID-19 is representative of the general attitude of the population towards vaccination. From Pamela’s story, it is clear that there is a need for increased efforts at finding solutions to tackle routine immunisation challenges amid any arising socio-economic upheaval.   

Pamela Anyango, a community health worker from Nairobi, Kenya

An account from Western Africa as told by Dr Essono Ngono Paulin, an EPI manager from Cameroon, shows similarities in the community perspective around immunisation during the COVID-19 epidemic. Addressing vaccine misconceptions at the grassroots level was highlighted by Dr Paulin as an effective method to encourage immunisation and combat fear in the community. 

Dr Essono Ngono Paulin, an EPI manager from Cameroon

Mbezele Anastasie Estelle, a mother of a three-year-old son, further emphasises the EPI manager’s sentiments. Mbezele’s child missed out on his 6th-month vaccine primarily due to the mother’s fear of contracting COVID-19 from a hospital visit. Misconceptions about COVID-19 appear to be a powerful force in reducing immunisation numbers and in mothers actively avoiding visits to health centres. Therefore community outreach and awareness efforts should be amplified consistently in Africa to combat the prevailing misinformation. 

Mbezele Anastasie Estelle, a mother of a three-year-old son in Cameroon

The right to healthcare access is a core aspect of the purpose of the International Day of the African Child. Taking the narratives mentioned earlier into account, the relevance of highlighting the decline in child immunisation on this day is clear. Further, the COVID-19 scourge has exposed significant gaps in the immunisation systems in Africa. Also, these stories, depicting the actual picture from the ground, should spur key players in immunisation to take action in encouraging innovation in awareness creation and implementation of pandemic preparedness protocols. 

It is inconceivable that according to UNICEF, 23 million children missed out on immunisation vaccines due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please write to your local representative wherever you are in the world and tell us what they say!

Be outraged with us!! 

#DAC2022 #Immunisation #Africa #Children

How a Malawi Village is Fighting Malaria and Saving Lives

Christopher Nial · Aug 14, 2021 · 1 Comment

Malawi had nearly 7 million malaria cases last year, more than a third of the population, with 2,500 lives lost to the mosquito-borne disease. However, one village – Mwikala village in Machinga district – has become a model for how to eradicate malaria and in June was honoured as the first-ever to have zero malaria cases for a whole year. In June of this year, Malawi’s president, Lazarus Chakwera, honoured the village’s chief for reducing malaria infection and for recording zero cases since 2017. The village chief augmented the campaign by creating laws requiring villagers to use mosquito nets.

Mosquito Net for Protection against Malaria

“I have introduced the bylaws to prevent people from abusing mosquito nets,” said Yasin Mustapha, a senior chief for Mwikala village. “Some people would sell the free mosquito nets to fishermen. So, anyone disobeying the bylaws would pay a fine of $6. I use the money (to) buy a mosquito net, and I give it to those who don’t have (one).”

The village is fighting malaria and saving lives

For years, health experts and global health partners have been trying to help Malawi eliminate malaria. But after being on the list of the country’s top ten most affected districts for over 30 years, the numbers have plateaued. In 2012, a new plan, including a very powerful tool – applying high-volume insecticide-treated mosquito nets – seemed to be working. However, a drop in aid from the global health community meant that these nets weren’t being used on the scale to close the gap. And then in 2016, the country’s new president, Peter Mutharika, appeared to cut the budget for fighting malaria and the international NGOs funding efforts were threatened with suspension.

Why Malawi?

Malawi has an average of 24 malaria cases and deaths per every 100,000 people. Making a real difference Mwikala is a village of fewer than 3,000 people. Ninety per cent of the community lives in homes without a solid roof, the majority built of mud and sticks. And for the most part, malaria was a fact of life. “Everyone had it,” remembers Rejoice Ngolongoliwa, a local health worker who is also a grandmother of seven and a mother of five. “Especially during the rainy season, when the water from the hills comes into our villages, we had to be careful. When the mosquitoes came, that was when we began to get sick.

What makes this village so successful?

The village is small, but its inhabitants take pride in how their living conditions are so different from those of the rest of the country. “It’s a blessing to live here. We have good sanitation, food and water, everything is okay and we are friendly with each other. The ward councillor helps us in the village,” 50-year-old resident Sakhina Sango says. Sango is among those in Mwikala that know how to protect themselves against the disease and does everything she can to keep mosquitoes away. And they do this using very simple and cheap measures. “We can also use leafy branches and a few sticks to cover the windows in our houses,” she says, proudly. “They are effective in controlling mosquitoes.

The future

In a large number of tropical diseases, eradication and prevention are key to not only protecting human health but restoring the ecosystems upon which our livelihoods depend. Cured, reduced, or limited geographic areas of disease with high rates of infection like malaria prove that there is much more to eradicating these diseases than simply killing parasites in the environment. A healthy ecosystem is necessary for human health and when malaria is cut off, the ecosystem becomes less habitable and makes it much harder for humans to live healthy, productive lives.

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