The Northern Bahr el Ghazal State health ministry on Tuesday launched a five-day measles immunization campaign that is targeting 77, 000 children aged between six months and five years in Aweil West and Aweil Center counties.
Santino Ngong, the director of the Expanded Program on Immunization (EPI) at the state health ministry, said, “the measles campaign is ongoing now and we are doing it gradually and now we targeting Aweil West County and Aweil Center County.”
He said Aweil town was going to be covered under Aweil West County.
“We are targeting 77,000 children. 55,000 in Aweil West and 22,000 in Aweil Center. We have started yesterday (Tuesday) and we are going to end after five days,” he said.
According to Ngong, the same exercise will be carried out in Aweil East, Aweil South, and Aweil North counties if donors provide funds.
A number of mothers who spoke to Radio Tamazuj appreciated the state government and its partners for initiating the immunization campaign.
Mary Achol Ajou, a mother, said that she took her child to be immunized after hearing the announcement on Tuesday night.
“I am here now at a vaccination point and I heard the information last (Tuesday) night that all children are being vaccinated at the Aweil Civil Hospital and that is why I came here and my child was vaccinated today (Wednesday),” said Achol.
Another mother, Rebecca Adut Akol, said she visited the hospital accidentally and found vaccination ongoing and her child immunized.