Vaccination drive a shot in the arm for kids' health
JAKARTA (JP): The first shots were given on Wednesday as the city opened its month-long tetanus and diphtheria vaccination program for its nearly a million elementary school students.
Minister of Health Farid A. Moeloek inaugurated the campaign at state elementary school SDN 010 and Islamic elementary school Darul Atfal in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta. The vaccinations are administered free-of-charge.
Attendees at the ceremony included Minister of Religious Affairs Malik Fadjar, Deputy Governor of Social Welfare Affairs Djaelani and Thamrin Poeloengan, director of state-owned Bio Farma Laboratories which manufactures the vaccine.
Vaccinations will be held in 3,743 elementary schools with about 914,300 students aged between eight and 13 years.
Nationwide, 7,195 community health centers (Puskesmas) are administering vaccines to 29.2 million students of 173,833 elementary schools.
The campaign is jointly sponsored by the ministries of health, education and culture, religious affairs and home affairs.
Diphtheria, caused by the bacterium Cornyebacterium, usually infects children under 15 years. It leads to respiratory and heart difficulties and can be fatal.
Tetanus is characterized by spasms of the voluntary muscles, particularly the jaw, and is caused by infection with the Clostridium tetani bacterium, usually through a wound.
Vaccinations will be administered by registered physicians and medical assistants. The diphtheria vaccine will be given to first grade pupils, and the tetanus shot to second to sixth graders.
Farid said the Rp 25.8 billion (US$3.22 million) campaign provided 6,160 vials of diphtheria vaccine, 127,180 vials of the tetanus vaccine, 450 packets containing 22,500 reusable syringes and 850,000 disposable ones.
Priority
Most of the budget is for the vaccine itself.
"Eighty percent of the total fund for the vaccination program, or Rp 17.6 billion, is used for the vaccine procurement," Farid said.
"A vial of tetanus vaccine contains 5 cc and costs a little over Rp 2,000, while that for diphtheria contains 25 cc and costs over Rp 9,000," Thamrin of Bandung-based Bio Farma said.
"Rp 25.8 billion divided by 29.2 million students equals less than Rp 800 per injection, so it is given free-of-charge."
Some parents brought their own syringes, fearing that dirty needles might be used for the vaccinations.
Lelly, the mother of a 10-year-old, said she was scared her daughter would be exposed to diseases if syringes were reused.
"I am scared. I heard they reuse it up to 20 times," she commented.
Jane Supardi of the Directorate of Immunization of the Ministry of Health dismissed the fear as baseless.
She said reusable syringes equipped with a stainless steel needle would be reused but sterilized at high temperatures beforehand.
Catching diseases due to the reuse of syringes was "impossible and had never happened".
"Syringes with needles are steam-sterilized at up to 120 degrees before being brought to community health centers," Jane said.
"This does not only kill bacteria, but also any spores." (ylt)