He said the non-citizens preferred their personal doctors to do the immunisation and not the health officials involved in the five-day exercise. He said the Ministry does not have a problem with this but the private doctors would have to do the immunisation in the presence of anti-polio officials.
Mazonde, who is responsible for health services, said that in order to protect all children of Botswana, anti-polio immunisation must be administered to all children under the age of five. “As long as the children are within the borders of this country they have to be immunised,” Mazonde said.
He said that they had not decided what to do with those who do not comply and they will have to consult on the matter. “We have a moral obligation to protect our children and we will do the best we can without flouting anyone’s rights.” Mazonde said they had come across parents questioning whether children given anti-polio drops before would have to be immunised again. Health officials explained that since it was a mopping up exercise, they would have to be immunised again.
Otherwise, Mazonde told Mmegi that the anti-polio campaign is going well. He said members of the public are co-operating with health officials involved in the exercise. By the end of Tuesday, Mazonde said the flow of vaccines and number of stations asking for more drops showed that the exercise was proceeding well.
