By Edith Kayira
Every morning during the September Measles-Rubella vaccination and Vitamin A supplementation campaign, Petrolius Halidi would set out for different villages in Balaka District.
His mission was simple but important, to ensure that parents understood the dangers of measles and the importance of having their children vaccinated.
For some parents, it meant changing their minds about vaccination. For others, it was an opportunity to learn more about a disease they knew little about.
Halidi was among the volunteers deployed by the Malawi Red Cross Society to mobilise communities and encourage parents to take their children for vaccination.
“We would first ask parents whether they knew about measles. Depending on their responses, we would then provide them with the right information,” he said.
His efforts, alongside those of hundreds of other volunteers, have earned praise from health authorities in Balaka, Blantyre and Nsanje districts, who say community mobilisation played a critical role in the success of the campaign.
In Blantyre, the Chief Preventive Health Officer Innocent Mvula said the district reached 104 percent of its target during the September campaign.
He attributed the achievement partly to the 300 volunteers provided by Malawi Red Cross Society, who helped spread accurate information and address myths and misconceptions surrounding vaccination.
“The volunteers were strategically deployed to communities with a high burden of the disease to ensure that more parents were reached,”said Mvula.
In Balaka, Director of Health and Social Services Dr Chimwemwe Thambo said the volunteers went beyond creating awareness, helping to change the attitudes of some parents who were initially reluctant to have their children vaccinated.
“We are really grateful to Malawi Red Cross Society for providing us with the volunteers. We worked hand in hand with them, and they really helped us in mobilising communities,” said Dr Thambo.
The impact of the volunteers was also evident in Nsanje District.
At Kalemba Health Centre, health workers surpassed their target, vaccinating 13,400 children against an initial target of 11,250.
Assistant Environmental Health Officer for Nsanje, Mildred Myaba, says the achievement was largely supported by the volunteers, who helped health workers reach households, including those in hard-to-reach areas.
“There was good coordination between us and the volunteers. They helped us a lot in reaching out to households in hard-to-reach areas,” said Myaba.
For the volunteers, however, the work was not without its challenges. Convincing hesitant parents required patience, effective communication and building trust within communities.
The Malawi Red Cross Society says the positive results demonstrate the value of community based interventions in public health campaigns.
The organisation’s Communications Coordinator, Felix Washon, said it is impressed with the commitment and dedication demonstrated by the volunteers.
“We are so impressed with how the volunteers conducted themselves,” said Washon.
According to Washon, mobilisation remains a critical part of vaccination campaigns and is pleased that the society’s intervention achieved its intended results.
For volunteers like Halidi, the success of the campaign is a reminder that sometimes protecting children’s lives begins with a simple conversation at someone’s doorstep.
In September, the Ministry of Health launched a nationwide Measles-Rubella vaccination and Vitamin A supplementation campaign following the detection of cases in some districts.
