Routine Vaccination: Azire Integrated Health Centre Pursues All-out Drive

“Some 361 babies have been vaccinated against different childhood diseases in our health centre since June 2021 when the Pandemic Emergency Financing, PEF project started. The project has been quite successful!” notes Mrs Kumo née Asangawa Edith Afanyui, Head of Azire Integrated Health Centre in Bamenda. “For example, we had 140 women for the first clinic in October 2021! This shows that our services are highly solicited,” Kumo adds with a broad smile.

“Pregnant women who come to our health centre respect their antenatal appointments. The challenge is rather with Internally-displaced People, IDP women who are not stable,” she explains. “For now, it is difficult to say exactly how many people we have reached out to because we sensitise in the same markets at times for one week running” Asangawa Edith reveals.

Community mobilisation takes place in churches, markets, schools, as well as from door-to-door. “There is now greater awareness since the project started. At the beginning, some neighbourhood people would not listen to us talk about vaccination. But today, they call for us,” Kumo underscores. “Nevertheless, we face the challenge of insecurity in some neighbourhoods. For example, one of our Community Health Workers was kidnapped last time in Ntaturu,” she discloses.