Over 20 years of civil war in Uganda have weakened the economy and caused widespread poverty and disease. The worst fighting has been in northern Uganda, particularly in the districts of Kitgum, Pader and Gulu. Here, residents have been forced to move into densely concentrated, protected displacement camps where hygiene and sanitation is poor, leaving residents vulnerable to disease.
Immunisation programmes have been in place in northern Uganda since 2003. However, immunisation remains low on people’s agenda. Men don’t take their children to be immunised and women are frequently too busy working on the farms. Moreover, the war has severely interrupted programme implementation, making rural populations hard to reach and interfering with the delivery of immunisation supplies.
Now that an uneasy peace exists in northern Uganda, previously displaced communities are returning to their villages or to satellite camps close to their original homes. It is hoped that people will gradually resume control of their lives. However, the concern is that with people dispersing from concentrated settlements, access to health care services will be significantly reduced.
Aims
- To increase full immunisation among infants
- To increase community support and demand for immunisation
- To raise awareness of the need for immunisation
- To strengthen the district system to improve static and outreach immunisation activities
- To improve the monitoring and supervision of immunisation activities
- To retrain community vaccinators
- To encourage men to take their children to be immunised.
Key achievements
- Increased immunisation coverage including hard-to-reach populations
- Increased awareness of the need to immunise and consequently, a higher demand for immunisation
- Establishing child health days to encourage mothers to attend immunisation sessions both for themselves and for their children
- Reduced burden of disease among the immunised
- Retraining of community members to vaccinate and facilitate the programme
- Reliable immunisation outreach programme established
