20 Aug 2020

 Parents who did not allow their children to receive vaccinations were violating the Children’s Act which gave a child the right to good health.

  Such people were liable to being punished, said Francistown District Health Management Team (DHMT) head of preventive services, Ms Sekani Chikunyana.

 Speaking in an interview with BOPA on August 19, Ms Chikunyana underscored the importance of the school immunisation programmes.

She said the school immunization programmes, especially those administered at an early age, helped reduce viral transmissions.

Such vaccinations were compulsory for all children as a way of promoting good health, she said.

Ms Chikunyana said as per government policy and to a large extent World Health Organization (WHO) standards, DHMT had been given the authority to conduct vaccination programmes in all government and private primary schools.

“We coordinate vaccine programmes and use clinics to liaise with Parents and Teachers Associations (PTA) to inform parents on when the vaccinations will be done,” she said.

Ms Chikunyana said it was the responsibility of parents to be well informed on the kind of vaccine their children received.ends