{"id":4438,"date":"2020-03-23T10:39:05","date_gmt":"2020-03-23T10:39:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/?p=4438"},"modified":"2020-03-23T16:44:25","modified_gmt":"2020-03-23T16:44:25","slug":"vaccination-program-giving-communities-hope-in-the-somali-regional-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sooha.org\/en\/2020\/03\/23\/vaccination-program-giving-communities-hope-in-the-somali-regional-state\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaccination program giving communities hope in the Somali regional state"},"content":{"rendered":"

JIGJIGA —<\/strong> Living in a remote part of the Somali\u00a0region of Ethiopia, far from medical care, ten-year-old Najma and her seven siblings have had to contend with all kinds of illnesses.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s something that upsets Najma a lot.\u00a0\u201cI have seen my sister sick and coughing because of the disease. When I see my sister and brother sick, I get sad,\u201d\u00a0she says.<\/p>\n

Their village is more than half an hour away from the main road and a very long distance from any medical facilities or schools. It\u2019s a place where Najma and her family struggle to survive, let alone thrive, amid drought, conflict and frequent illness.<\/p>\n

The immunization program<\/span><\/p>\n

In such a remote location, prevention is the main form of healthcare and the whole community rallies around each time\u00a0healthcare\u00a0visitors, that are trained by Save the Children, arrive. The healthcare visitors bring vaccines that protect against diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough, polio, and Hib disease. Elders go from house to house, mothers put other anxious parents at ease and curious teenagers come to watch their baby siblings get their injections. It\u2019s a family affair and an opportunity that every generation is embracing. It\u2019s an initiative that\u2019s saving lives and giving people hope.<\/p>\n

Recently, Najma\u2019s nine-month-old sister Tufah was given her final vaccination against a common childhood killer – measles.<\/p>\n

\u201cTufah is healthy and well thanks to the vaccinations,\u201d\u00a0says her mum Nura.\u00a0\u201cPreviously we didn’t have this program, so we had no vaccinations. When Save the Children came around, we felt relief and confidence. We are not afraid of outbreaks now.\u201d<\/p>\n

The immunization worker<\/span><\/p>\n

Save the Children supported the training of Ifra Mahamud, who vaccinated Tufah along with other members in the community. It\u2019s a relief to her that Tufah is finally protected against measles.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeasles infects most people. Polio also used to infect many people but after the vaccinations and the awareness-raising, rates are now low.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s seen how community attitudes have changed over the years towards the immunization program, and how it\u2019s protecting more children than ever before.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe community feels very great. They welcome me warmly and come for the vaccination from very far away. As for fear, it used to be there in the past, but now people know there is nothing to be afraid of.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Save the Children <\/b>International(SCI)<\/b><\/span>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Origin: <\/b>View original<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

JIGJIGA — Living in a remote part of the Somali\u00a0region of Ethiopia, far from medical care, ten-year-old Najma and her seven siblings have had to contend with all kinds of illnesses. It\u2019s something that upsets Najma a lot.\u00a0\u201cI have seen my sister sick and coughing because of the disease. When I see my sister and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,1,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-health-cluster","category-news","category-nutrition-cluster"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t