The positive power of guilt can be empowering, especially if one feels all they have to do is to dedicate themselves toward righting a wrong.For Beatrice Mukankomeje, a resident of Kimironko Sector in Gasabo District, it all came down crushing when she lost her child to measles. The mother of two recalls taking her son to Gicumbi Health Centre for medical attention after the one-year-old fell ill after immunisation. She was asked for the immunisation chart, only to realise that the child was not immunised against measles. The doctor told her that the child’s body was not resistant because it lacked immunity against the disease. The baby passed on after three weeks of not responding to available treatment. Mukankomeje feels her son would still be gracing her with smiles if she had cared to take him for immunisation. But she left instructions to a maid to take the child for the shot. It was one mistake too grave. “My schedule was too tight, forcing me to delegate such a responsibility to a maid,” she said. Learning the bitter way Mukankomeje, a vendor in Kimironko Market, advises parents to take care of their children. “I realised the impact of following a clear schedule of immunisation, because I immunised my second born in time as indicated on the chart. Nowadays, when I hear of any immunisation campaign, I suspend work to do my duty,” said Mukankomeje. The World Health Organisation says more than 1.5 million children under the age of five lose their lives to preventable diseases, including measles. Information from the Ministry of Health indicates that measles deaths in Rwanda declined from 670 in 2000 to three in 2010 and the target is zero deaths by 2015. According to Hassan Sibomana, an epidemiology specialist in the ministry, the first dose of measles vaccine protects a child up to 85 per cent, but that with the second dose, children will be 100 per cent safe from measles. Sibomana appeals to parents to ensure that their children are immunised accordingly. In March, about five million children between nine months and 14 years benefited from measles and rubella vaccination exercise, as Rwanda became the first country in Africa to roll out the shots. With effect from January, next year, the Ministry of Health plans to introduce the second dose of measles vaccine–measles-rubella vaccine. The vaccine, that has helped to protect 1.1 billion children against measles since 2001, will also prevent rubella transmission from mother to child as well as fighting birth defects. The introduction of a second dose of measles vaccination for 2014 on the routine vaccines is expected to achieve zero deaths to measles.
