Health practitioners have observed an alarming trend of parents missing their children’s immunisation appointments, while some lose the immunisation cards commonly known as the road to health cards.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), immunisation prevents deaths ranging from two million to three million each year. Thus, the City of Ekurhuleni reiterates that every day is an immunisation day, and every child must be vaccinated according to the immunisation schedule.
“It is important to get your little ones protected from vaccine-preventable diseases, and the first step towards ensuring that is through vaccination. It doesn’t matter whether you lost the road to health card or missed the scheduled date, ultimately a child must be immunised,” said Sr Tembi Mahlangu, a manager of nursing services at Brackenhurst Clinic in Alberton.
Mahlangu further indicated that children need all the required vaccinations at the right time during their developmental stages. Skipping a stage poses a threat to a child’s development, making them prone to vaccine-preventable diseases.
Vaccines stimulate the body’s immune system, which helps to prevent and protect children from serious illnesses, such as polio, hepatitis, measles, meningitis, diphtheria, pneumonias and other life-threatening illnesses, that affect children as they grow.
Another important factor raised by health practitioners is that parents of schoolgoing children tend to forget that their children need to be immunised when they are six and 12 years old for the compulsory TD (tetanus and diphtheria) vaccination.
The human papillomavirus vaccination (HPV) received by Grade Eight schoolchildren helps to prevent cervical cancer in girls, and reduces the risk of contracting viral infections that affect both girls and boys in lower body areas, such as genital wards, and reduces risk of anal cancer. The vaccine is given by the school health nurses.
Help the City grow its future leaders by ensuring its children are immunised.
Parents and guardians may visit Ekurhuleni health facilities from Monday to Friday from 8am until 4pm. The City also offers extended operating hours in selected health facilities to accommodate parents who cannot make it during weekdays. Operating facilities include Esangweni Community Health Centre and Ethafeni Midwife Obstetric Unit, both in Tembisa.
