According to a message sent to this newspaper, police and
health officials were informed of the developments by a whistleblower in the
area.
“We have a serious challenge of measles in Honde Valley
near Nyamayende Primary School, particularly in the Makoko family. They are
members of the Johane Marange Church.
“One child died of measles on Wednesday, June 23. Two more
children died on Saturday, June 25. At the same time, there are five more
children suffering from measles.
“We request for police and the Ministry of Health and Child
Care’s urgent assistance, otherwise all those bedridden will die,” reads the
message.
The whistleblower later sent another message which read:
“Good evening Sir. Another child from the same Makoko family has died, taking
the number to four within one-and-a -half weeks.
“Six members of the same family are now suffering from the
same disease. More cases are being reported in the same area. Please, is there
no other means or option for the team to get there? It is now a disaster there.”
When contacted for comment, Mutasa District Medical Officer
(DMO), Dr Cephas Fonte confirmed receiving reports of Honde Valley apostolic
devotees resisting vaccination owing to their religious beliefs.
Although he could not deny the death of the four children,
Dr Fonte only confirmed the death of two children from the same family.
“We managed to talk to Chief Mutasa and the Civil
Protection Unit. There were a number of measles cases note where children
clearly showed signs of measles, but their families were denying them access to
medical care.
“We also managed to send a team on the ground for
vaccination. While we cannot deny the figures stated by the whistleblower, we
have confirmed that a 14-year-old died on June 23 while a two-year-old died on
June 25.
“We also gathered that more children from the same family
are still bedridden and that the family is denying them medical care. We also
understand that there are more cases of measles in the area,” said Dr Fonte.
Dr Fonte said the area has always been problematic when it
comes to vaccination and medical campaigns due to the community’s religious
beliefs.
We have always had problems with the Nyamayende area
because of the people’s religious beliefs that do not allow them to seek
medical attention. This time around we are trying more diplomatic means of
reaching out to them. We do not want to be confrontational in our approach.
“At times we have witnessed cases of children running away
from schools whenever we go there for vaccination programmes. It is not new.
The last time we went there for a different vaccination programme, we only got
nine children from the whole school,” said the Mutasa DMO.
Efforts to get a comment from the Makoko family were
fruitless.
Measles is a viral infection that starts in the respiratory
system.
It remains one of the major causes of death for children
under the age of five despite the availability of safe and effective vaccines
in the country.
The virus is transmitted by airborne droplets when an
infected person sneezes or coughs, and immunisations are among the most
successful and cost effective prevention interventions available. Manica Post
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