African Week on Immunization: Strengthening Community Awareness of the Importance of Immunization
“We have come a long way; vaccination has helped us save lives and stamped epidemics out of our communities.
Rumours, misinformation, and the scare from COVID-19 should not make us forget our good habits”. On this note, Professor Tih Pius Muffih, R4S Country Secretariat Director launched the African Week of Vaccination.
Celebrated under the theme, “The Big Catch-Up” from April 24-30, 2023, this year’s celebration sought to consolidate gains and fast-track the vaccination of under-immunized children in Cameroon and protect them from vaccine-preventable diseases.
During the week, the R4S team designed branded T-shirts and carried out massive social media campaigns, radio campaigns, door-to-door sensitization, churches, and schools in Zero Dose communities to educate them on the importance of immunization.
These outings enabled the team to consolidate its presence in Zero Dose Children communities in the 9 districts of the Northwest, South West, and Far North Regions where it is piloting the project. The team used this opportunity to talk with grassroots communities to make them understand that Vaccines are here to protect and make them stronger. This also gave an opportunity to some grassroots communities to express their worries and exchange with the service providers, who reassured them and dispelled all the wrong information they had gathered on vaccination.