Orthodox leader lends support to child immunisation

The head of Ethiopia’s 25 million strong Orthodox Church has thrown his weight behind a countrywide campaign to boost child immunisation.

Patriarch Abune Paulos urged his clergy to provide teaching on the importance of vaccinations against preventable child hood killers.

His rallying call came on Friday at the launch of a campaign by the United Nations and the health ministry to boost immunisations in the country.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), up to 350,000 Ethiopian children die annually from preventable diseases. Just half of children receive life-saving vaccines.

The UN says that children are dying because parents are unaware about diseases and they have little knowledge about how to combat childhood killers.

Abdelmajid Tibouti, deputy head of the UN’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said the Ethiopian church can play a key role in reaching communities.

“There is a growing body of scientific evidence that early childhood care is pivotal to how a child grows and develops from birth to up to the eighth year,” he said. “Proper care can greatly influence a child's continued learning and psychosocial development in later years."

“Creating such conditions is not a question of charity, but a right for all children," he added.

“All children must be immunised with the full range of vaccines that are now available to prevent major childhood diseases, which unnecessarily kill and cripple the children of Ethiopia.”