Matadi, July 15, 2024, (caritasdev.cd) : Dr Tshiteku Kaboto Nestor Bonheur, Chief Medical Officer of the Kongo Central Provincial Health Division, welcomed the project to support CSOs (Civil Society Organizations) for strengthening of routine vaccination in 8 Health Zones which he officially launched this Monday, July 15, 2024 in the conference room of the Sacré-Cœur / Kinkanda parish in Matadi. “This project comes at the right time, given the problem of “zero dose” children, under or incompletely vaccinated and those in conflict with the vaccination schedule for their recovery, while emphasizing community support through CAC (Community Animation Cells) ,” he declared.
Around thirty participants took part in this ceremony: Provincial Medical Inspector (MIP), Head of Division of the DPS, Head of the PEV (Expanded Vaccination Program), Head of Health Zones, Mayors, Representatives of Technical and Financial Partners (Unicef, Sanru...), Civil Society, Nursing Supervisors and Community Facilitators , the Representative of the Bishop of Matadi, the Coordinator of Caritas-Development Matadi and his Staff, the local press.
On behalf of the Executive Secretary of Caritas Congo Asbl, Dr Mathieu Bikoko (Program Manager) presented the context, Objectives, Strategies, Areas of intervention, Activities, Expected Results and Stakeholders of this project. He specified that it is financed by Gavi Alliance, through the Principal Recipient Sanru Asbl. It will be implemented by Caritas Congo Asbl, in collaboration with its Diocesan Offices of Medical Works (BDOM) Matadi and Boma.
Lasting one year, this project will cover eight Health Zones (ZS) of Congo Central: ZS Nzanza, Nsonampangu, Inga and Matadi for BDOM Matadi and ZS Boma, Boma Bungu, Moanda and Kitona for BDOM Boma .
In fact, as part of the support for the catch-up plan for zero-dose and under-vaccinated children in the DRC, Caritas Congo Asbl, partner of the Congolese Government, is committed to mobilizing resources from donors, donating 't GAVI Alliance through a proposal which targeted 8 ZS in the Congo Central province. “This funding, initially planned to support the plan to accelerate vaccination against COVID-19, was directed towards strengthening routine vaccination with a focus on research and reaching “zero dose” children, under or incompletely vaccinated. The goal is to strengthen not only local communication, but also and above all to support routine vaccination with the search for “zero dose” children, under or incompletely vaccinated in 3 provinces of DR Congo,” indicated Dr Bikoko.
It was completed by Dr Léon Batantu, Chief Medical Officer of the PEV Matadi Branch, who presented the vaccination situation in the three Branches of this province. After painting a gloomy picture, including a rate of 12% of zero-dose children in 2022 and 14% in 2023, he pleaded for the Mbanza-Ngungu Antenna to be taken into account. “For this year, we are working with a population of 4,785,801 inhabitants, with an area of 53,920 square kilometers, and a density of 89 inhabitants per kilometer ,” he said.
Concerned about the recovery of zero-dose and under-vaccinated children, the CD of the DPS, Dr Tshiteku, requested “ the total involvement of 8 Head Doctors of Health Zones (MCZ), beneficiaries of this support, so that analyzes “In-depth investigations can be made, by involving the Registered Nurses and the Community Relays, so that each target child (0 to 23 months) does not go unnoticed during vaccination sessions.”
Indeed, Dr Mathieu Bikoko from Caritas indicated that the objectives of this project are:
- intensify local communication and community engagement activities through local community stakeholders and faith-based network opinion leaders in order to generate demand for and confidence in vaccines, particularly for underserved and unserved populations at the level community;
- support the targeted ZS to Reduce by half the dropout rate of children for routine DTP1-DTP3 vaccination in the targeted ZS of Congo Central by recovering those lost to follow-up;
- halve the number of unvaccinated (zero doses) and under-vaccinated children in the targeted ZS of Congo Central and;
- to support the integration of COVID-19 vaccination into routine vaccination.
Rich and constructive exchanges
A rich game of questions and answers between the Assistance and the two speakers (Caritas Congo Asbl and MCA) was punctuated with relevant suggestions, such as those of the Provincial Medical Inspector (Dr Sabin Ilonga) and a Representative of Unicef. The MCA recognized the need to disaggregate the basic data at launch and the results obtained in the targeted areas at the end of the duration of the said project, in order to determine the performance achieved by this support. For his part, the Chief Medical Officer of the Congo Central Provincial Health Division recommended that this project be closed with another workshop, with a view to releasing the results with all stakeholders. In fact, Civil Society organizations are key partners of the Gavi Alliance playing an important role in efforts to ensure that every child can benefit from the vaccination service.
A family photo and a cocktail closed this launching ceremony of the CSO support project for the strengthening of routine vaccination in 8 Health Zones of Congo Central.
For the record, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, helps vaccinate more than half of the world's children against deadly and debilitating infectious diseases. As part of its mission to save lives and protect people's health by increasing the equitable and sustainable use of vaccines, Gavi has helped vaccinate more than a billion children in 78 low-income countries, preventing thus more than 17.3 million future deaths.
Guy-Marin Kamandji
(Correspondent)