The first tour of the Maternal and Child Health Nutrition Action which just ended was aimed at improving mother and child health.

Scores of women and children in all the ten regions of the country over the weekend freely received a series of vaccinations aimed at reducing maternal and infant mortality rate in the country. This was within the first tour of the Maternal and Child Health Nutrition Action Week dubbed SASNIM in the French Language, coupled with the African Vaccination Week (SAV).

According to the Sub-Director of Immunisation at the Ministry of Public Health, Dr Grace Alake, the vaccination campaign involved a series of high impact interventions for mothers and children in a bid to reduce maternal and neonatal (children below five years) mortality rate in Cameroon and also to attain the numbers four and five Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which entails the reduction of child mortality and improving maternal health respectively.

After the last SASNIM, six months ago, the just ended one contained a series of activities which aimed at informing and educating 95 per cent of parents about the importance of the campaign. During the campaign at least 100 per cent of children were targeted against the polio vaccine in all the 10 regions of the country; vitamin A was provided to at least 95 per cent of children between the ages of six to 59 months and also women within the first eight weeks after child birth.

Also within the SAV and SASNIM week, children between 12 to 59 months were de-wormed against intestinal worms. Intermittent treatment of malaria was provided to women from the second quarter of pregnancy and the screening of malnutrition in children between the ages of 12 to 59 months in 13 health districts in the Northern Region, two health districts in the Adamawa Region and eight health districts in the East Region was also carried out. The week permitted health officials to carry out catch-up vaccination for children who have missed out during routine vaccination.

According to Dr Grace Alake, the campaign is of utmost importance because it is a nationwide event to administer a package of high impact interventions to mothers and children between the ages of five years and below. She emphasised that all these activities have been proven to contribute to the reduction of maternal and infant mortality in Cameroon as well as improving health indicators. Although demographical survey indicates that maternal mortality figures are still very high in the country, Dr Alake stressed that infant mortality was decreasing but not at an improving rate. But with the high impact interventions vaccination campaigns taking place in the country, health officials are convinced that maternal and infant mortality in the country will greatly improve.