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Immunisation

For as long as we can remember babies and children under five years of age have been taken in for baby vaccines or immunisations. Let us therefore take this opportunity to appreciate and explore what exactly this vaccination or baby immunisations are.

What is immunisation? The process by which an individual’s immune system becomes fortified against an infectious agent through administration of a vaccine. What are the benefits? Immunisation is a way of protecting against serious diseases. Once we've been immunised, our bodies are better able to fight these diseases if we come into contact with them.

Why should I take my child for vaccination? Vaccination is very safe and effective. Vaccines are only given to children after a long and careful review by scientists, doctors, and healthcare professionals. Vaccines will involve some discomfort and may cause pain, redness or tenderness at the site of injection and or fever, but this is minor compared to the pain, discomfort, and trauma of the diseases these vaccines prevent.

Editor's Comment
Depression is real; let's take care of our mental health

It is not uncommon in this part of the world for parents to actually punish their children when they show signs of depression associating it with issues of indiscipline, and as a result, the poor child will be lashed or given some kind of punishment. We have had many suicide cases in the country and sadly some of the cases included children and young adults. We need to start looking into issues of mental health with the seriousness it...

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