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KENYA / DADAAB PNEUMOCOCCAL
STORY: KENYA / DADAAB PNEUMOCOCCAL
TRT: 3:12
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / SOMALI / NATS
DATELINE: AUGUST 2011, DADAAB KENYA
1. Various shots, refugee camp inhabitants
2. Various shots, water supplies
3. Various shots, refugee Hubia Aden and her family in camp.
4. Various shots, Hubia getting food
5. Various shots, Hubia’s family receiving vaccinations
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ranganai Matema, Health Officer:
"A pneumococcal vaccine prevents pneumonias and meningitis and as you know pneumonia is one of the biggest killers of children, so it is good that the refugees are also getting this vaccine."
7. Various shots, UNICEF and vaccination staff with vaccination supplies
8. Various shots, Hubia with family in camp
9. SOUNDBITE (Somali) Hubia Aden, Mother:
"There were no hospitals in Somalia and my children were not vaccinated. I understand it is important because I was immunized as a child. This will help my children to not get sick."
10. Various shots, Hubia and her family in the camp
The refugee camps in Dadaab, north east Kenya, continue to grow. Around 1,200 people are arriving each day.
Make-shift dwellings and tents house roughly 430,000 people with more arriving each day. With a high concentration of people and low hygiene standards, comes the risk of disease spreading rapidly.
Hubia Aden and her six children have just arrived in Hagadera camp, one of the three camps around Dadaab. Having walked for 21 days from Kibiyow in northern Somalia, they begin the registration process. Hubia receives an initial food ration for three weeks along with basic supplies, clothes and shelter they are also ushered into a room for her children to receive a cocktail of immunizations. The International Rescue Committee runs the immunization post at Hagadera refugee reception.
Hubia's oldest son Abdiraman receives his injections bravely but his sisters are less calm at the thought of the needles. Ranganai Matema from UNICEF comforts three year old Ikran before her turn. In addition to protection from polio, measles and diphtheria any children under a year old also receive a new pneumococcal vaccine, which means 9 month old Mohammed must endure one more prick of the needle than his siblings.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ranganai Matema, Health Officer, UNICEF:
"A pneumococcal vaccine prevents pneumonias and meningitis and as you know pneumonia is one of the biggest killers of children, so it is good that the refugees are also getting this vaccine."
Pneumonia is one of the leading killers of children in Kenya claiming around 30,000 lives every year. This is a large proportion of the 124,000 who die every year before they reach their fifth birthday.
As part of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) UNICEF and WHO have played an key role in supporting the Government of Kenya in becoming one of the first countries in Africa to adopt nation-wide pneumococcal vaccination. The program was launched in February 2011 and recently expanded in response to the humanitarian crisis in Dadaab.
Hubia is uncertain of what the next few weeks will bring. Where they will sleep tonight and whether her children will receive education. But she understands that her children's immunization is an important first step in beginning her new life in the camp.
SOUNDBITE (Somali) Hubia Aden, Mother:
"There were no hospitals in Somalia and my children were not vaccinated. I understand it is important because I was immunized as a child. This will help my children to not get sick."
With a new dress and the promise of food Ikran has all but forgotten her vaccination. Hubia hopes that her husband will join them soon, as the burden of looking after six children unassisted is heavy, but she feels confident that this is the start of a better life for her family.
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