City gets more children vaccinated<\/p>\n
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta\/Bogor<\/p>\n
Jakarta health agency officials have announced that 88 percent of
\nchildren under the age of five in the capital have been
\nvaccinated against polio.<\/p>\n
Mothers holding their children in their arms arrived at local
\nimmunization posts on Tuesday from early morning onward as
\nofficials called through loud speakers for children to
\nhave their second dose of the vaccine.<\/p>\n
\"The TV ads have helped a lot, we do not have to persuade the
\nmothers anymore,\" said Dede Kartini, the health officer in charge
\nof the vaccination drive at Pondok Pinang community health center
\nin South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
A day before the second round of vaccines were administered,
\nthe health ministry increased its public service announcements
\non television.<\/p>\n
With no additional effort from its officers, Dede's center
\nalone saw a massive increase in its coverage from 76 percent in
\nthe last round on Aug. 30, to 88 percent on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\"We are sure that we can reach 100 percent in the upcoming
\ncampaign. Most of those who missed today's vaccination had a
\nfever,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Several centers in South Jakarta reported a similar increase.
\nPublic immunization posts located in bus and train stations as
\nwell as fast food restaurants also reported an increase in the
\nnumber of children they vaccinated.<\/p>\n
As of Tuesday afternoon, the city health agency had reported
\nthat more than 88 percent of the targeted 922,963 children under
\nthe age of five had been vaccinated.<\/p>\n
On Aug. 30, Jakarta health officers vaccinated 71 percent of
\nthe targeted children. After a seven-day door-to-door campaign,
\nan 87 percent success rate was achieved.<\/p>\n
The percentage is well below the first round of the polio
\nvaccination program in May and June. At that time, the
\nadministration reached 92 percent of children in the capital.<\/p>\n
Last month it was reported that health officials had been
\nrefusing to vaccinate sick children, for fear that it would
\nworsen their condition.<\/p>\n
Despite the success in the capital, more than 200 mothers in
\nBojong Koneng village in Bogor refused to have their children
\nvaccinated.<\/p>\n
\"Some 239 children were not vaccinated because they were sick
\nor their mothers refused due to their beliefs,\" said Bogor health
\nagency's head of epidemiology surveillance and immunization Eulis
\nWulantari.<\/p>\n
She said the refusals would prevent her office from reaching
\nthe targeted 95 percent of 533,285 children under the age of five
\nin Bogor municipality. The area has seen 25 cases of the
\ncrippling disease in 12 of its villages.<\/p>\n
Separately, the health ministry's director for immunization,
\nJane Soepardi, said her office was considering another round of
\nvaccinations in November as suggested by the World Health
\nOrganization (WHO).<\/p>\n
The WHO's advisor on polio, Bardan Jung Rana, explained that
\nin cases like Indonesia, where an outbreak had just occurred, it
\nwas better to have more than the minimum four doses required to
\nimmunize a child against the paralyzing virus.(003)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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