150 community leaders commit to vaccinating internally displaced children in the Western region

One hundred fifty community leaders commit to vaccinating internally displaced children in the Western region. Affected by the loss of their loved ones, these children are more vulnerable and less concerned about their health than other children.

For nearly three years, many internally displaced persons from the North West and South West Regions, because of insecurity, have found refuge in several regions of Cameroon, with a large number in the areas of the Littoral.

In the Western Region, six Health Districts are bordering on these two Regions. These are the Health Districts of Bangourain, Malentouen, Mifi, Dschang, Mbouda, and Galim, with around 20,821 people displaced in January 2019, according to the census carried out by the Ministry of Territorial Administration and the Red Cross.

These various internally displaced people affected by the loss of their loved ones and their property are vulnerable and less concerned about their health and that of their children than the need to find shelter and food. It is, therefore, to promote health equity for children in the Western Region that the Ministry of Public Health, through the Central Technical Group of the Expanded Program on Immunization (GTC-EPI), has organized six advocacy meetings with administrative, religious, traditional leaders and Civil Society Organizations, to monitor the vaccination status of internally displaced children. The activity was implemented from 19 to 24 June 2019 by the Regional Technical Group of the EPI of the Western Region with the support of the WHO Representation Office in Cameroon.