The government has assured the Catholic Church on the safety of the Neonatal Tetanus vaccine, which is to be administered to approximately 2.3 million women across the country.
Health Cabinet Secretary James Macharia on Monday said that the tetanus vaccine had been scientifically proven to be safe and does not impact the female reproductive capacity.
“The science behind vaccination should be the basis of making decisions, and I believe going with history we shall have big numbers – women and girls – coming forward whether or not they are Catholics. But we would also like to advice our brothers and sisters in the Catholic faith to please listen to us as we outline the science behind this vaccination, it is very safe,” he said.
Macharia said continued opposition from the Catholic Church was likely to hinder the efforts put in place by the ministry to reduce maternal mortality.
The initiative by the Ministry of Health is in collaboration with UNICEF, World Health Organization and other partners, seeks to implement the final round of Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus elimination campaign in 60 sub-counties.
Head of Vaccine and Immunisation Services Dr Ephantus Maree said that Kenya is one of the 28 countries in the world that have not eliminated tetanus.
“In fact we are lagging behind. We give the vaccine to women aged 14-49 years because they are in the child-bearing age. We began the campaigns in 2003, then in 2006, 2009 and this week's will be the final one. We will then call the WHO to come and certify Kenya as tetanus free,” he said.
This week's campaign targets 2.3 million women in 60 districts in the 16 high-risk counties. The districts include Baringo, Turkana, Samburu and Marsabit in northern Kenya. The exercise ends on Sunday.