Care for All: Build a Mobile Clinic for Rural Gulu

Dear friends,

Once agin I share with you about another worthy cause in the work we do here in Gulu, Uganda.

The recently concluded mass measles vaccination campaign went for three days with an ambitious plan to vaccinate upto 95% for all children between 0 to 5 years old. Measles is a highly infectious vaccine preventable disease that manifests itself with fever, generalized skin rash lasting a minimum of 3 days, red eyes, red lips and sores in the moth, cough and a runny nose. 1.5 million children die each year from preventable diseases. Globally, 1 in 5 children – nearly 22 million- go without vital immunisations that could protect their health and lives.

Nurse Ivy together with nurse Odong from a nearby government health centre were amongst the many health workers who were selected and oriented to carry out this exercise. They set out from the health facility to the most remote area in the district as assigned by the district health office to setup a health post from which they will carry out the vaccination. They arrived at a small village where over 200 women are working in a stone quarry breaking stones.

Achen knew about the importance of immunisation because of the village health team volunteer, Agnes’ effort in mobilising the community. “When I had my first two children, I never knew about this need,” Achen said. “Once I learned about the benefits, I knew I had to do whatever I could to bring my baby for vaccination.” Achen had to walk for three miles to get to the health post set up for this immunisation exercise. But for many parents in the region, finding a clinic is no guarantee of immunisation. Many facilities run low on supplies and do not know when the batch arrives. They are often hampered by power for refrigerators necessary to store the perishable vaccines. As for Achen she made sure that she informed her next door neighbours about the importance of vaccinating their babies. Although the turnout was low in the morning by midday more mothers brought in their children, thanks to the good work the team mobiliser, Agnes had done throughout the week. She walked around the village informing mothers to bring in their children for this vaccination exercise. And they responded well and by the end of the three day exercise, over 300 children had been vaccinated.

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