Newsroom
New drive to prevent child mortality in South Africa
"It is very worrying that a high number of our children die even before their 5th birthday. Sadly, many of these deaths are caused by diseases that are vaccine-preventable". This was said by health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi in announcing his department's Catch-Up Immunisation campaign starting tomorrow.
This four-months Catch-Up programme, done in collaboration with the private sector is aimed at providing children under 5 with an additional dose of PCV13 that is meant to protect them and their communities against pneumococcal diseases.
Since his appointment as health Minister, Motsoaledi has expressed his concern around the unacceptable under 5 mortality rate attributing it to poor primary healthcare interventions such as immunisation. " In fact, I am worried that given our performance in this area (infant and child mortality) we may not be able to realise our MDG commitments especially the one
about reducing child mortality", said Motsolaedi.
Targeted groups for this Catch-Up Immunisation campaign are:
- All children between 18-36 months
- Children with underlying medical conditions, eg HIV infection, cardiac conditions and those who are on cytotoxics.
The Department calls upon all parents and care-givers to take advantage of this opportunity and take their children to clinics to receive their immunisation.
NOTE TO EDITORS: A BRIEFING DOCUMENT ON THE CAMPAIGN IS ATTACHED FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE MEDIA.
For more information please contact Fidel Hadebe on 012 395-8493 or 079 517-3333.
Issued by the Department of Health.
- PCV briefing (docx)
