60% of Wakiso schools yet to join measles-rubella vaccination
Health authorities in Wakiso District, Uganda, report that 60 percent of schools are resisting a measles-rubella vaccination campaign. Officials are threatening punitive measures, including the closure of boarding sections, to ensure compliance and protect public health.
Why it matters
The resistance highlights a significant public health challenge in managing vaccination coverage and the tension between parental consent and state-led health initiatives.
Authorities in Wakiso District have raised concern over resistance by schools to the ongoing Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign, with about 60 percent of schools reportedly yet to participate in the exercise.
Ms Betty Nabuganda, the Wakiso Assistant District Health Officer, said health teams had visited different schools across the district but were being denied access to eligible children.
“60 percent of schools in Wakiso had by Saturday not yet complied or participated in the arrangements for the ongoing Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign,” she said during a press conference at the district on Saturday.
Ms Nabuganda said resistance had mainly been registered in private schools, where proprietors argue that they need to first obtain consent from parents before allowing health workers to vaccinate the children.
She warned that the resistance could leave many eligible children unreached, undermining the district’s efforts to contain measles and rubella.
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