In continuation to its efforts to eliminate measles, rubella, and mumps, and maintain the Kingdom free of polio, tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis, as well as achieving the highest coverage with basic vaccines, the Ministry of Health (MOH) will launch its vaccination campaign targeting school students (between the age of four and six years) on Sunday, November 20th, 2016 (corresponding to Safar 20th, 1438H), Allah Willing. This campaign comes out of the fact that the MOH is full aware of the active role of school health, as well as activating its responsibilities after joining the Ministry.
The campaign targets all students at the first grade in primary schools (totaling 555,000 students); to vaccinate them with doses of triple viral (MMR) vaccine, triple bacterial (DPT) vaccine, oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) and chickenpox vaccine, throughout the Kingdom’s government and private schools, in addition to community schools. This is reckoned one of the basic vaccinations in the Vaccinations Schedule, given that the second dose of MMR vaccine is considered complementary to the first one; in en endeavor to give kids immunity against the three diseases: measles, mumps and rubella, whereas triple bacterial dose protect against diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus, Allah Willing.
The Ministry stated: “Since MOH, in coordination with the Ministry of Education, launched this vaccination campaign at schools, the vaccination coverage has achieved a record number, amounting to 98% for this targeted age group. This, in turn, resulted in reducing the incidence of the diseases associated with these vaccines. That is why the Kingdom has been receiving acclaim from the international organizations and the World Health Organization (WHO). Besides, the MOH hopes to achieve higher percentage this year, Allah Willing.”
Finally, the Ministry has called on all parents to urge their children to take these vaccination doses, meanwhile calling on all school departments to facilitate the task of the school health visiting teams, as it always does.