Children at risk over vaccine stock-out

Six counties have reported vaccine stock-outs exposing children under five years old to the risk of fatalities, a situation the Ministry of Health has admitted, attributing it to lack of financial resources.

 Health NGOs Network (HENNET) and other health Civil Society Organisations including stop TB Partnership Kenya are deeply concerned by the community-reported shortages of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), against tuberculosis, measles, polio, rotavirus and tetanus vaccine.

The counties where stock-outs have been reported include Siaya, Kisumu, Kitui, Kakamega, Taita-Taveta and Kajiado. In Nairobi, the organisations told People Daily that there has been a reported stock out of the tetanus vaccine since January this year, further putting people with wounds at risk of critical illness.

“There are reports from the communities and organisations we work with at the county level that there are stock-outs of basic vaccines especially polio, measles, rotavirus and BCG,” said a senior official at HENNET, who requested anonymity.

The source noted that the situation seems to transition into a crisis of scale. “This is because, already there are people going to the facilities and being turned away, and those who work in the counties feel that immunisation is almost getting to zero in some of the regions in the country,” she added.

This shortage, she said, complicates a situation that’s already getting out of hand, with an outbreak of some of these diseases especially measles in northern Kenya, particularly in Garissa County.

“So far we have confirmation from about six counties that the numbers may be higher and also it may be in different facilities,” the source stated, explaining the important role that immunisation plays especially around the life expectancy of minors aged five and below. “So far we have seen how we have improved life expectancy especially for the under-five.

We have also seen the improved health outcomes per se, but with what we are experiencing now, we might not know what will happen,” she said.

Other transmissions

She said the country might start getting diseases.

 “It means that when a disease is in a person it can move from Stage A to another location, and you never know how many other transmissions may occur, and that’s a big challenge,” she said, noting that with the shortages of vaccines, it therefore feels that it’s an emergency, and it’s no longer business as usual.

This also means that there’s no way the country is going to achieve quality healthcare if basic preventive nature is not being taken care of, she noted.

The Stop TB Partnership Kenya lead, Eveline Kibuchi questioned the government’s seriousness in its recent shift to more preventive rather than curative initiative by strengthening the primary healthcare agenda. “When we hear that there are stock-outs then this begs a question whether the government is committed to prevention in achieving the UHC, and improved health outcomes,” she said, calling on the government to be keen on a multi-sectoral approach to dealing with the situation at hand.

In the TB fraternity, Kibuchi said, the advocates are keen on advocating for newer, more effective long-lasting affordable accessible vaccines. He however wondered how realistic this is if patients are not accessing what currently is supposed to be available.

“Our latest advocacy is on having newer and effective TB treatment, but if we are not accessing what’s available, how do we even advance our advocacy for a newer one?” she posed.

TB, she noted, is serious when it affects children, since it’s difficult to diagnose the disease in children because having them to produce sputum is complicated, administering the six-month dosage in these minors is even a bigger challenge.

And with the minors’ immunity being low, and also without a vaccine, Kibuchi noted children are vulnerable to TB.

“I therefore call on the government to confirm the reports we are getting from the community, bring on board other stakeholders. “Let’s have a multi-sectoral approach to that,” she said, emphasising that the country does not want to fall back on the gains made in health by not addressing a simple issue of sustaining supply of immunisation in young children.

Kenya has committed to the global conversation around immunisation 2030, and in this agenda, the country is committing that there should be a reduction on zero dose, have full immunisation coverage.