The ministry of health-MOH has directed all health facilities across the country to offer free immunization services to all eligible children following a huge gap in the routine process.
Dr. Joyce Moriku Kaducu, the Minister of State for Primary Health Care says all health facilities in the country need to offer free services to enable all those that missed the routine process to participate.
This comes after the MOH has raised worry over the alarming numbers of children that have missed immunization this year alone as a result of COVID-19 lockdown.
According to the latest statistics from the MOH, close to 19 million children have not turned up at various health facilities for routine immunization.
Over 500,000 children have missed routine vaccination countrywide while 17.3 million children under the age of 15 missed de-worming as a result of disruptions caused by the 2019 Measles-Rubella mass vaccination campaign and the COVID-19 lockdown.
Dr. Alfred Driwale, the program manager Uganda National Expanded Programme on Immunization says the lack of immunization leaves many children prone to diseases.
He also fears that close to 1.2 children aged 10-11 years who have also missed cervical cancer vaccination risk getting the deadly disease in the near future.
