Kenya Red Cross Society Secretary General Abbass Gullet during a past media briefing. [Photo/ the-star.co.ke]
Kenya Red Cross Society secretary-general Abbass Gullet has confirmed that at least 500,000 children born during the recently ended nurses' strike were not immunised against polio and measles.Addressing stakeholders during the official closure of the Global Fund on HIV conference at Travelers Beach Hotel, Mombasa on Thursday, Gullet said children born in arid and semi-arid regions were the most affected.“I would like to urge the county governors to embark on a catch-up programme for vulnerable babies who might have missed normal vaccines for polio and measles. As you know failure to act fast may result in lethal and gross effects,” said Gullet.“The society has established that over half a million newly born babies who were delivered during the national nurses’ strike did not receive vaccines, this to us is a very serious health concern which needs attention,” he added.The polio vaccine aims at preventing poliomyelitis while the measles vaccine is often given in combination with mumps and rubella.The threat of death by disease isn't the only medical consequence of skipping vaccinations, but an unvaccinated child also faces lifelong diseases that could potentially put him or her at risk.The 16 million USD sponsored Global Fund was started in September 2012 and has been implemented by the Kenya Red Cross for a period of six months.It targets Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale and Taita Taveta counties.