Measles vaccination drive for 19m children to start Monday

The Ministry of Health will on Monday launch a measles, rubella and tetanus vaccination campaign.

Children will get jabs of a new combined vaccine, which offers them double protection against measles and rubella. Rubella is often mistaken for measles.

Acting Director of Medical Services Jackson Kioko said the ministry expects to vaccinate at least 19 million children in the country.

"If we do not conduct the campaign now, we risk having an outbreak," said Dr Kioko.

The campaign will run for nine days.

Dr Kioko says this is the first time the country will conduct a vaccination campaign for more than five days.

"Other campaigns last between three to five days," he said.

During the drive, girls and women aged between 14 and 49 years will also be given a third dose of the tetanus vaccine.

The campaign is a prerequisite for the introduction of the MR vaccine into routine immunisation which will take place early next year.

“In line with WHO recommendations, MOH and Gavi are providing support for large-scale catch-up campaigns with the measles rubella (MR) vaccine,” said Principal Secretary for Health, Dr Nicholas Muraguri.

11 counties targeted during this tetanus campaign are: Kilifi, Mombasa, Meru, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Baringo, West Pokot, Turkana, Samburu and Narok

“The goal of Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus Elimination is to reduce number of cases to less than 1 case of neonatal tetanus per 1,000 live births, in every sub-county,” said Dr Muraguri.

By end 2013, Kenya was among 28 countries that were yet to achieve the Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNT) Elimination targets.