Dr Bernard Atembeh Bedifh, Regional Chief of Unit for the Expanded Programme for Immunization in Cameroon, describes three immunisation challenges in the south west region of Limbe.
"There are three main problems that require prioritizing. The first is that there is insufficient sensitisation of the population regarding routine immunisation activities. To solve this we could enlist social mobilisers, who are usually used during mass vaccination campaigns. They could be recruited, trained and give a token whenever they carry out social mobilization in favor of routine vaccination activities."
"Another issue is the low number of outreach vaccination sessions carried out by health facilities. Here funds could be given to vaccinators to permit them to reach populations that have difficulty accessing health facilities, in terms of distance and other factors."
"The third priority is poor data management, which includes data collection, data analysis and reporting. To solve this we need training sessions to be organised for health facilities."
In addition to these priorities, other challenges in the south west region of Cameroon includes a lack of health personnel and many parts of the population have poor access to health facilities.
