During the last week of April 2018, the staff from the Motorbike outreach clinic participated in the country-wide campaign for children that included introduction of the injectable polio vaccine (IPV), along with giving each child receiving Vitamin A and Mebendazole (for deworming).
In the past, oral polio vaccine was part of the Sierra Leone routine childhood vaccine. Now that polio has been eradicated from the country, the IPV vaccine, which is not a live virus vaccine, is safer and being used instead. Vitamin A deficiency in children is very common due to lack of Vitamin A in the diet and can lead to loss of vision, poor growth and decreased brain development. Annual deworming is important in reducing malnutrition and poor weight gain.
>
RHCI staff member Mohamed Kabba provided motorbike transportation to many villages in the Tikonko Chiefdom for the health care workers to carry out this important campaign. After receiving the vaccine and meds, each child had the end of their little finger painted purple to indicate their compliance. See pictures.
Mohamed Kabba, RHCI Outreach Coordinator and Motorbike Rider
