City and health department launch measles vaccination campaign

By Khanyisa Tabata
07 April 2010

The recent measles outbreak in South Africa affected older age groups. This has prompted the City of Cape Town, in partnership with the provincial health department, to launch a two-week campaign with an increased vaccination age.

The campaign will start on the twelve until the April twenty four. Children between six months and 15-years of age will receive the vaccine as part of the national mass measles and polio campaign. The campaign begins on Monday.

Spokesperson for the provincial department of health Keith Cloete says more than a million children will be immunised free of charge in Cape Town.

“Measles immunisation has been used extensively all over the world for a large number of years and has been deemed safe.

“All claims to the contrary have been dismissed by medical scientists. In countries where fear of immunisation led to a drop in measles coverage, measles epidemics were experienced at some time or other, with dramatic consequences,” said Cloete.

Cloete has pleaded with all residents to support this campaign by bringing their young children to the public health facilities for the immunisations and signing the parental consent forms and delivering them to the crèches and schools where they were distributed.