SOMALIA / VACCINES

Women and children in central and southern Somalia are receiving lifesaving vaccines and health services, as part of the Child Health Days Campaign implemented for the first time on a nation-wide scale in Somalia by UNICEF, WHO, local authorities, communities and NGO partners. UNICEF

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:12
• Production Date: 1 April 2009
• Asset Language: Original
• Corporate Name: UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND - UNICEF
• Subject Topical: HEALTH; DISEASE PREVENTION; DISEASE CONTROL
• MAMS Id: U090401d

Description

STORY: SOMALIA/ VACCINES
SOURCE: UNICEF
TRT: 2.12
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SOMALI / ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 24-25 MARCH 2009, WAJID, SOMALIA

Shotlist

1. Tilt down, women and children gathering under a tree for vaccinations
2. Med shot, women and children
3. Med shot, women and children
4. Med shot, children
5. Med shot, a mother and her two children waiting to receive vaccinations
6. Close up, a smiling baby
7. Med shot, vaccinators getting ready
8. Med shot, a vaccinator talking to a mother and her two boys
9. Med shot, a baby receiving vaccination shot
10. Med shot, a baby receiving vaccination shot
11. Med shot, a boy receiving vitamin A supplements
12. Med shot, a woman receiving tetanus shot
13. Close up, UNICEF’s Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) packages
14. Med shot, a girl drinking water after taking a de-worming tablet
15. Wide shot, local women passing by outside the vaccination site
16. Med shot, a crowded group of mothers and children waiting behind a vaccinator
17. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Barey Issac, mother of five:
“People came to our streets and announced with microphones that my children can be protected against measles, and that I can be protected against tetanus.”
18. Med shot, a boy receiving vaccination shot
19. Med shot, a woman receiving tetanus shot while her child receiving de-worming tablet
20. Med shot, mothers talking to a vaccinator
21. Med shot, mothers and children waiting to receive their vaccinations
22. Med shot, a mother bouncing her baby
23. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Mohamed Ibrahim Mokhtar, Vaccinator: “Seventy per cent of the population are nomadic, who are always on the move, following the pasture and rain. They are not fixed in one location, so it is hard to reach them normally. But this campaign has many teams who reach out to cover almost every place, where there are villages and people.”
24. Wide shot, children and adults next to a village water point
25. Med shot, a woman collecting water at the water point
26. Med shot, the woman pouring water into a can
27. Med shot, more mothers and children waiting inside a hut
28. Med shot, a mother and her children
29. Close up, a child’s upper arm being measured to determine his nutritional status
30. Close up, mother with one-year old twins

Storyline

For the first time, children in Central and Southern Somalia are receiving life-saving vaccines and health services as part of a nation-wide Child Health Days Campaign.

In a country where routine immunization coverage is low, and basic health care services are scarce, UNICEF, together with WHO, local authorities, communities and NGO partners is implementing this large scale health outreach.

Every child under five is immunized against Measles, Polio, Diphtheria, Pertusis and Tetanus. They also receive Vitamin A and de-worming tablets.

Women of child-bearing age are being immunized to prevent neonatal Tetanus. The child survival package includes Oral Rehydration Salts and water treatment tablets.

Here in Wajid, Southern Somalia, families gathered from early morning to receive the free services.

SOUNDBITE (Somali) Barey Issac, mother of five:
“People came to our streets and announced with microphones that my children can be protected against Measles, and that I can be protected against tetanus.”

Child Health Days are crucial in the rural areas of Somalia where regular access to health services is extremely limited, especially for nomadic populations.

SOUNDBITE (Somali), Mohamed Ibrahim Mokhtar, Vaccinator:
“Seventy per cent of the population are nomadic, who are always on the move, following the pasture and rain. They are not fixed in one location, so it is hard to reach them normally. But this campaign has many teams who reach out to cover almost every place, where there are villages and people.”

In a country where basic infrastructure is weak, more than 2,000 health workers are helping to make the campaign possible.

In spite of difficult circumstances, UNICEF and partners are working together to reach out to every Somali child with high impact life-saving interventions.