Dr Collins Tabu (left) with his colleague in during a television interview [Photo/twitter/KTN_News]
Close to 4,000 children below the ages of five are at a serious health risk of contracting tropical diseases such as Malaria and other infection that is supposed to have been tackled through vaccination.
The Ministry of Health immunization director Dr. Collins Tabu has said that nurses strike has made it impossible for the government to immunize the children as had been required leaving a junk of drugs at the ministry stores while putting the lives of children at risk.
He noted that the responsibility of rolling out the immunization program does not solely lie in the hands of the government but also requires effort from the community and researchers.
"Currency there are no disease outbreaks in the country but there are people traveling by from neighbor states that have polio outbreak which can be infected into the country to through migrants," said Dr Tabu.
He noted that the country was not at a dire situation but if the nurse strike was not contained in good time to the situation could worsen.
He has asked parents to take their children to private operational clinics and seek to have their children immunized and that they should not make payment for the services since it is in partnership with the government.
Dr Tabu who spoke on an interview on KTN News on Wednesday evening made a plea to all parents whose children have not been immunized to take up personal responsibility and ensure that they inform health officers who will conduct the exercise once nurses get back to work.
He said parents can also visit private facilities for the service and should not be charged for the government distributed vaccines.