Parents Urged to get Children Immunized

Health Minister, John Junor is urging all parents and guardians to get their children fully immunized, noting that the government would not hesitate to use the “strength of the law” to get them to comply.The Ministry has undertaken a national Mop Up programme, aimed at immunizing all babies and children under age two.
Mr. Junor, in his contribution to the 2005/06 Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives earlier this week, expressed concern at the level of noncompliance with the immunization effort. “We do not believe that parents understand the danger they pose to their children’s lives and to the society without the immunization,” he stated.
On another matter, the Health Minister said the sector had achieved the target set last year to reduce Maternal Mortality Rate by 10 per cent, from 106 deaths per 100,000 live births, to 95 per 100,000. He said the intention was to reduce the rate to 27 per 100,000 live births by 2015.
He noted that the achievement of the 10 per cent target was as a result of training of health staff, including the use of partographs to monitor the progress of labour. He said the instruments were now being piloted in four regional hospitals. In addition, all parishes now have weekly high risk anti natal clinics, which are run by obstetricians.
Minister Junor said that central to reducing maternal morbidity and mortality and peri-natal mortality, was increasing the presence of skilled health personnel at every birth.
He noted therefore, that the opening of the new midwifery school at the Spanish Town Hospital was a strategic move to increase the number of midwives coming into the system.