Over 3,000 children have missed the mass vaccination against Measles and Rubella diseases in Apaa Township in Labala, parish Pabbo Sub County, Amuru district.
Government through the ministry of health this month launched a five days mass vaccination drive against measles and rubella diseases.
However, Christopher Ocen, the head of Village Health Teams (VHTs) in Labala said that 7,002 children were targeted for the exercise but only 4,760 were vaccinated.
He revealed that the vaccination team were not able to reach some places including Coro, Mulila, Gaji, Luru while the exercise partly reached areas of Punu Dyang, Oyanga, Wee Yoo, Opiro, Okojo, Andara and Maro Awobi.
Ocen says all these places are in hard- to- reach areas where vehicles and motorcycles could not access. Heavy rains, poor road networks, inadequate health workers and shortage of vaccines made the task even more challenging.
Labala parish had eight health workers who were traversing the areas for the five days exercise. Geoffrey Omony the Labala parish councilor says they used private motorcycles to transport vaccines and health workers within the community. He however said they did not reach all the households due to fuel shortages and insufficient funds received from the Sub County or district.
Charles Odonga, a motorcyclist in Apaa said he offered his motorcycle free of charge to ferry health workers to the hard to reach areas to conduct the exercise at no cost.
Patrick Odong Olwedo, the Amuru district health officer however says there is no need for alarm among those whose children were not immunized citing that more vaccination exercise will be held in the different health centers.
