At least 200 children have been immunized against polio at Kisugu health center III, an initiative of six rotary clubs which include; Rotary club of Muyenga, Muyenga Bukasa,Muyenga Breeze, Muyenga Sunday sunset, Muyenga Tankhill, and Kisugu Victoria view.
“To ensure that polio does not affect any more kids wherever in this world, and that’s why I know many of you have started bringing your children. As you heard, polio is not completely gone if we don’t immunize our kids, we are not protecting them”. Said Rotarian Agness Mungati Batengas, the district Governor Rotary District 9214.
“We have to continue immunizing our children so that we forget about this disease forever on this earth.” She said.
She asked women who came with their kids for immunization to send a message even to others who they know, that Polio is still here.
In her submission, Goretti Masadde, the country chair for district 9214 on programs against polio said thag “The reason we are immunizing against polio is because polio has no cure. We know that It paralyzes and cripples, especially children under five. And it can’t be cured when somebody gets it, but it can only be prevented. October is polio month, because we celebrate, we commemorate polio on world polio day on the 24th of October, which is Thursday. So these activities are part of those activities, to remind the public, educate the public, but to also commemorate and ensure that we immunize our children from polio.”
She said that “You know very well that there’s been a campaign ongoing in the eastern region, where surveillance established presence of polio, and they are immunizing door to door in the Eastern Region. But we know that polio anywhere is polio everywhere, so we are emphasizing and increasing awareness in these other parts of the country to ensure that we are ready and we are protected. Our children are protected because we know it’s a very deliberating disease, and nobody wants to see a child crippled from calling.
According to Masadde, the campaign targeting to immunize as many children and convincing as many parents to take there children fir polio immunization are different health facilities.
She added that “for us rotary we work all year round. We are getting every child that we can get to be immunized. It’s not going to be only today. Polio is very dangerous, Over the years, Rotary got involved in 1985 and they got into that global Eradication Initiative, and they are championing this together with UNICEF, World Health Organization, Ministers of health across the globe. So we are telling these young mothers, it is only because of that collaboration, that initiative, immunization, that you don’t see polio today, but it can happen to your child and you don’t want to see it. Therefore, embrace immunization, it’s the only protection mechanism that you have.
Phoebe kisibo, the president of the Rotary Club of kisugu Victoria view said that “we are here today to celebrate the world polio Day, which falls on the 24th of October. But we’ve moved it closer because we want to celebrate with the mothers and the children below five at the health center in kisugu.”
She said that their focus a lot on polio, because there is a polio outbreak in Uganda. “The polio virus was spotted in Mbale in eastern Uganda and there is a door to door immunization everywhere in Uganda. So today, we are bringing that awareness to our community, and to also encourage all mothers with children under five to go to your nearest health center and have a polio vaccine”.
“Today, we had a vaccine clinic at Kisugu Health center III, and we targeted to have at least 200 children to come. and we are very appreciative to the government because of working together with Rotary. Rotary we lead in eradicating polio in the world, and we have worked very closely with the government, and we are grateful to the government for supporting us and always opening the health centres for us to come and do this job together with them.” She said.
