Last week Mmegi joined a health team in Gaborone West and witnessed that a lot of effort was needed in the house-to-house campaign for a swift outcome. As the immunisers leave a compound they place a sticker on the gate. These stickers are either given a tick to show that a child was present and has been immunised or N for no children or R when the health workers are denied access to the home.
According to the Team Supervisor, Grace Banda the house owners sometimes remove the stickers because they claim they make the gates ‘dirty.’
“It is difficult sometimes when nobody responds to the knock on the gate and they do not have an intercom,” she said. During this tour Banda was called when a family refused health workers access to their yard stating that they are just visiting and would be leaving for South Africa. With a little persuasion she explained that every child aged below five in Botswana had to undergo compulsory immunisation and requested to see passports to see if there are any children under five years of age in the house.
A child was spotted and immunised instantly. In another incident also in Gaborone West, it took some persuasion to have another child immunised, after a dialogue between the maid and the child’s parents who were refusing immunisation. Eventually Banda came to the rescue and stated the penalties that would be enforced if they refused to give in.
According to a Gaborone City Council Public Health Specialist, Dr Deonatus Malanguka the second phase of the polio immunisation was faster than the first round with more families complying.
He said those who resisted immunisation had their own reasons but changed their minds after being made to understand the importance of it.
Malanguka said that resistance of immunisation was based on an individual’s personal perception. He revealed that among those who gave them problems are a few elite people, foreigners, traditional healers, members of some religious sects and some medical officers.
Malanguka said their strategy has been persuasion and convincing people that there is no harm in getting their children immunised. “We were using the soft approach as an immediate gadget but the government muscle helped,” he disclosed.
According to recently gazetted health regulations on polio prevention, anyone found guilty of resisting immunisation is liable to a fine not exceeding P500 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three months or both.
He said the house-to-house campaign has worked tremendously as they have captured more children than they would have if the campaign had been left to the clinics.
The target number of children to be immunised was 15 000 and by last Tuesday 9000 had been immunised.
