In a recent interview with The Zimbabwean he said most children in hard to reach areas of the country were left out of the government’s vaccination programmes.
“Our vaccinating teams could not reach children in rural areas such as Siyakobvu and Siyamola, where there are poor roads and lack of bridges,” he said, adding that in some areas lack of mobile refrigerated facilities to transport the vaccination drugs meant children were left out.
“Lack of cooler boxes to transport vaccination drugs, which are only effective when they are properly handled at low temperatures, result in some children getting ineffective vaccination,” admitted Mombeshora.
He also confirmed that, due to poor immune system in babies, if BCG is given to HIV positive babies they may actually suffer from TB as the vaccine contains a weakened TB which stimulates body reaction.
The Southern Africa HIV and Aids Information Dissemination Services fact sheet on Tuberculosis and HIV reveals that while most children in Zimbabwe and the region are given the BCG vaccine soon after birth, the vaccine is not recommended for children with HIV.
“Because of the difficulty in confirming HIV infection in babies, many children born with HIV, and those who are infected post natally, are vaccinated – causing some of them to develop life-threatening systemic BCG infection,” reads part of the factsheet.
“Such children can actually contract TB due to low immune system. That is why we emphasise exclusive breastfeeding that boost children’s immune systems. It is government policy that if any child is ill they must not be vaccinated,” said Mombeshora.
Meanwhile, some HIV positive children who have been on ARV medication as part of a British-funded programme for the past five years, were allegedly denied drugs at Harare Central Hospital recently. The Antiretroviral Research for Watoto (ARROW) ended in May this year and some 2,000 children were referred back to their local clinics for further supply of drugs. A woman whose young brother was enrolled under ARROW said the hospital had only syrup drugs for the combination that her brother was taking.
But the hospital’s Chief Executive Officer, Peggy Zvavamwe, said treatment of HIV positive people was a complex process that required individual assessment by doctors. “There are specific treatment regimes, and if we do not have that regime here, we simply refer them back to ARROW to be prescribed the drug regime we have,” she said.
According to National Children and HIV treatment statistics, 89, 490 children in the 0-14 age group need ARV treatment – but only 22,091 are receiving it.
Post published in: News
As the gap between the rich and poor continues, and the Zimbabwean middle class choose to remain blind to the plight of the poor, the welfare of the rural poor is doomed. There is so much more we can do for our country rather than wait for handouts from the West all the time.