Haile A. Clacken, Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE RELUCTANCE of some parents to have their children immunised is undermining the Ministry of Health's plan to have 15,000 children vaccinated by the end of May, according to Dr. Karen Lewis-Bell, the ministry's director of family health services.
In an interview with The Gleaner on Monday, Dr. Lewis-Bell said that only a mere 1,600 of the projected 15,000 children have been immunised island-wide over the past three weeks. "Sometimes they (the nurses) go and they cannot find the children and when they do find them the parents refuse (to allow immunisation to take place)," Dr. Lewis-Bell said, while outlining some of the problems being faced in the field by medical practitioners in their quest to meet the mop-up immunisation target.
Lilyclaire Bellamy, legal officer at the health ministry, explained that under the 1986 Public Health Regulation Act, a guilty party may be fined up to $500 or, upon default, face a maximum of 30 days in prison. She added that while pending legal action may help bring about the success of the health programme, it is reliance on parental cooperation that truly counts.
"All parishes are working to the best of their ability to find children and have them vaccinated but our success is dependent on parents' commitment," Dr. Karen-Bell explained.
The greater social cost is epidemical. Jamaica is still four percentage points short of the 90 per cent World Health Organisation (WHO) standard of polio protection.
The vaccines, which are provided by the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO), are given free of cost to households but they are costing the Jamaican Government $65 million. Parents may also have the antiserums, as well as the varicella (chickenpox) and influenza vaccine administered at a cost at private clinics.
The advantage of the health ministry's programme is that BCG, the vaccine to prevent the spread of tuberculosis, is administered from birth to six weeks an effort that surpasses the requirements of the WHO.
VACCINES PREVENT
MMR: Measles is a viral infection that causes distinctive red spots and is characterised by cold-like symptoms and a high fever.
MMR: Mumps is an infectious viral disease that results in swelling of the parotid gland that is just in front of the ear and the salivary glands. The swelling can occur on the sides of one or both cheeks. Mumps usually is accompanied by a fever and pain when the patient opens his/her mouth or eats.
MMR: Rubella or German measles is similar to measles in that it is a viral infection that results in a fever, swollen glands, and a rash.
BCG: Tuberculosis is a highly infectious disease in humans and animals caused by the tubercle bacillus. It is characterised by the formation of tubercles on the lungs which may develop long after the initial infection. People with TB are found coughing up mucus and sputum and suffer from fever, weight loss, and severe chest pains.
DTP: Diphtheria is a serious infectious disease which inflames the nervous system and heart, and can result in heart failure and paralysis.
DTP: Tetanus results from bacteria that grow in wounds and produce a toxin which affects the nervous system and causes muscle spasms and paralysis, especially in the jaw area. It is also called lockjaw.
DTP: Pertussis or whooping cough, another infectious disease caused by bacteria, is especially dangerous for babies under the age of one-year-old. Its most well-known symptom is a debilitating, racking cough.
HIB: Haemophilus influenza type B is not the viral infection that everybody calls the flu. Instead, it is a fast-moving bacterial infection that can cause babies to have ear and bronchial infection.
POLIO: Poliomyletis is an acute viral disease characterised by inflammation of nerve cells of the brain stem and spinal cord, leading often to lameness.
