Consider children’s health, governor tells clergy

Kericho Governor Paul Chepkwony and area Women Representative Hellen Chepkwony have told religious and other leaders to consider the future health of children before politicising the polio vaccination campaign among ordinary Kenyans.

The county leaders asked members of the clergy to reconsider their stand on the matter lest it misleads religious people and a section of rural parents into resisting the campaign and thereby exposing their children to future health risks.

Chepkwony reminded the Church and local residents that most of the people who were not vaccinated during their childhood now regret and blame their parents for failing to take them for vaccination when they had a chance.

On her part, Mrs Chepkwony asked local residents to ignore the Catholic Church’s calls to boycott the exercise by placing the lives of their children first.

She warned that the consequences of failing to vaccinate children were dire.

The polio vaccination exercise kicked off on Saturday, despite the opposition by a section of Catholic Church leaders.

Director of Medical Services Nicholas Muraguri assured Kenyans that the vaccines used during polio vaccination campaigns are safe and have been tested by the Poisons and Pharmacy board and prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Muraguri said all stakeholders, including the Catholic Church, held a meeting and agreed that Kenya’s risk of polio was still high, noting that the polio vaccination campaigns were necessary for the country to achieve a polio free status.

The last indigenous polio virus case in the country was reported and confirmed in 1984.

However the country has experienced four outbreaks in the last nine years.