The vaccination program giving communities hope
Living in a remote part of the Somali region of Ethiopia , far from medical care, ten-year-old Najma and her seven siblings have had to contend with all kinds of illness.
It’s something that upsets Najma a lot. “I have seen my sister sick and coughing because of disease. When I see my sister and brother sick, I get sad,” she says.
Their village is more than half an hour away from a main road and a very long distance from any medical facilities or schools. It’s a place where Najma and her family struggle to survive, let alone thrive, amid drought, conflict and frequent illness.
The immunisation program
In such a remote location, prevention is the main form of healthcare and the whole community rallies round each time healthcare visitors, that are trained by Save the Children, arrive. The healthcare visitors bring vaccines that protect against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio and Hib disease. Elders go from house to house, mothers put other anxious parents at ease and curious teenagers come to watch their baby siblings get their injections. It’s a family affair and an opportunity that every generation is embracing. It’s an initiative that’s saving lives and giving people hope.
Recently, Najma’s nine-month-old sister Tufah was given her final vaccination against a common childhood killer - measles.