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Measles Initiative Partners Launch Integrated Health Campaign in Indonesia
Bonnie Gillespie, Special to Redcross.org
Wednesday, September 13, 2006 — BENGKULU, Indonesia – It’s a rare occasion to be in a room filled with screaming, crying children and see only smiles on mothers’ faces. But today is a no ordinary day – it’s measles vaccination day in Indonesia.
This infant is one of nearly 30 million Indonesian children receiving a measles vaccination.
(Photo Credit: Bonnie Gillespie/American Red Cross)
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Led by the Indonesian Ministry of Health and Measles Initiative partners at the American Red Cross, United Nations Foundation, World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the latest round of vaccinations aims to protect 7 million children in nine Indonesian provinces against measles.
Last year, more than 15,000 children in Indonesia contracted measles, one of the highest numbers of cases in the world.
“Indonesia is one of the priority areas for measles elimination, and the Measles Initiative has been already overwhelmingly successful in reducing deaths from the disease” said Dr. Sharmila Shetty, American Red Cross health delegate in Indonesia and special monitor for the latest campaign.
More than 1 million Indonesian children also miss their routine immunizations, so in addition to measles inoculations, children received polio vaccinations and vitamin A to boost their immune systems as part of unique integrated health campaign. Avian influenza educational materials were given to mothers in some provinces, and 1.5 million long-lasting insecticide-treated nets will be distributed to protect children and their families against malaria, helping make the Measles Initiative efforts truly comprehensive.
As part of Indonesia’s integrated campaign, long-lasting insecticide-treated nets also were distributed to protect children and their families against malaria, helping make the Measles Initiative efforts truly comprehensive.
(Photo Credit: Bonnie Gillespie/American Red Cross) |
“Malaria is another big killer of children under 5, and while they are at the posts being vaccinated, it’s a great opportunity to give families insecticide-treated nets to help cut down the number of malaria deaths, too,” said Shetty. “Integrated campaigns like this are a practical way to reach at-risk populations with a number of health services simultaneously.”
This innovative strategy was modeled largely after the highly-successful Measles Initiative campaigns in Africa, where measles deaths have been reduced by 60 percent in the last five years compared to 2000. With efforts in Africa ongoing, Measles Initiative partners now are targeting Asian countries like Indonesia as well, where the threat of measles remains high.
By late 2007, Measles Initiative partners in Indonesia anticipate vaccinating 23 million children under the age of 5 and 13 million school children against the deadly disease.
Measles kills nearly a half million children globally each year. Integrated health campaigns, like this one in Indonesia, provide an opportunity for vaccinations at less than one dollar per child. (Photo Credit: Bonnie Gillespie/American Red Cross)
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Social Mobilization
A successful measles campaign begins before vaccination day, though, and Red Cross Movement partners like the Indonesian Red Cross (Palang Merah Indonesia or PMI) are instrumental in “getting the word out” about Measles Initiative activities through social mobilization.
PMI volunteers in targeted provinces canvassed their communities in the days leading up to the latest measles campaign, reaching even the most isolated and high-risk areas with the news of the upcoming, free vaccinations.
“We have participated in social mobilization for polio campaigns and other activities, so after training for the measles campaign, we already knew where to go and what areas would be most at risk,” said one PMI volunteer in Bengkulu province.
Indeed they did, because when vaccination day arrived, children and families turned up at local puskesmas or health clinics by the hundreds, even thousands, producing what preliminary reports show to be a highly-successful integrated health campaign in Indonesia. PMI volunteers remained active during the campaign as well, distributing thousands of insecticide-treated nets to help protect families from malaria.
“Indonesia is a particularly challenging place to do a campaign like this – it has a very large population and is spread out over 17,000 islands,” said Shetty. “But the campaign seems to have been very successful and is yet another way the American Red Cross has shown its support of major health initiatives in Indonesia.”
The Measles Initiative, launched in 2001, is a partnership committed to reducing measles deaths globally, with the goal of cutting measles deaths by 90% by 2010 compared to 2000. During its first five years (2001-2005), the Initiative supported the vaccination of more than 217 million children in Africa, saving 1.2 million lives. Through these efforts, measles cases and deaths have dropped by 48% worldwide and by 60% in Africa, where measles deaths and disability are highest. Building on its success in Africa, the Initiative has expanded into Asia. The Initiative increasingly provides additional life-saving health interventions in its campaigns, including vitamin A, de-worming medicine and insecticide-treated nets for malaria prevention. The Measles Initiative has mobilized more than $308 million through 2006 to support campaigns in more than 43 countries in Africa and Asia. Leading these efforts are the American Red Cross, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United Nations Foundation, UNICEF and World Health Organization. For more information or to make a donation, log on to www.measlesinitiative.org.
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