As several schools in Kayunga District have resisted the ongoing measles vaccination, promoting health officials to seek the intervention of district authorities to ensure eligible children are reached.
Among the affected schools are Evergreen Nursery School in Namagabi A, Kayunga Town Council, St. Mary’s Nursery and Primary School in Nazigo Town Council and Kanjuki Junior School in Kayunga Sub County.

The resistance prompted Assistant District Health Officer Olivia Busingye to seek the intervention of Deputy Resident District Commissioner John Magezi, particularly at Evergreen Nursery school, where health workers were reportedly blocked from accessing the school.

The administration of Evergreen Nursery School had on several occasions been un cooperative with government health programs, Busingye said.
Busingye added:
Evergreen is always not cooperative. The health workers were blocked and locked outside the school and we had to seek the intervention of the RDC’s office.”

Following Magezi’s intervention, the school administration allowed health workers to enter the premises, enabling them to begin vaccinating eligible children.  
Magezi said resistance to government vaccination programmes was not limited to parents, but was also associated, according to authorities with some religious groups and other groups whose beliefs discourage immunization.

Magezi said:
“It is not only parents who are hindering government vaccination programmes. Some cults and religious beliefs are also contributing to the resistance.”  He cited groups whose beliefs, according to him, include opposition to immunization and certain health practices.

Magezi warned communities and School administrators against obstructing vaccination programmes, stressing that immunization is a public health intervention aimed at protecting children and communities from preventable diseases.
He said district authorities and health teams had so far reached almost all sub counties and town councils in Kayunga despite challenges encountered in some areas.

“We have managed to cover almost all the sub counties and town councils across the district. The exercise is still ongoing, and I anticipate that it will be successfully completed.” He added.

Health officials are continuing with the vaccination campaign, while district authorities engage schools, parents and community leaders to address concerns and ensure that eligible children are reached.
Authorities have urged schools and parents to cooperate with health workers during the campaign to help improve vaccination coverage and protect children from measles.