The Ministry of Health (MOH) is scheduled to conduct a national Measles Rubella Supplementary Immunization Activities (MR SIA) campaign for all children aged nine to 59 months from 23rd to 28th September 2024.

In preparation for the MR SIA campaign, the Centre for Infectious Disease Research in Zambia (CIDRZ) has supported the MOH in conducting orientations for the MR campaign targeted to reach 528 participants drawn from the MOH’s provincial, district, and subdistrict officers critical to the immunisation programme. The trainings included the provincial and district level health directors, public health specialists, nursing officers, senior health information officers, senior health promotion officers, and the logisticians.

This cadre of health workers will then cascade the training to the health facility level in readiness for the immunisation campaign. The orientations took place on September 4th and 6th in all the ten provinces in the country.

The objectives of the orientations were to ensure that provincial and district level healthcare workers are skilled in the rationale for the SIA and its implementation. The orientations were further meant to strengthen routine immunisation pre-, intra- and post-SIA.

MOH National Expanded Programme on Immunisation Officer Dr Kennedy Matanda, who was one of the facilitators for the Lusaka Province trainings, emphasised the need to rid the country of measles because it is a preventable disease. “We need to ensure that the nation is free of measles because clearly it is a preventable disease through vaccinations,” he said.

Participants appreciated the training, noting that the refresher orientation helped to refresh their skills and knowledge on administering vaccines on a large scale.

“The training has been very insightful and refreshing on some practices during vaccinations,” noted Kababa Chimba, Health Information Officer from Lusaka District Health Office. Lusaka District Mother and Child Health Coordinator Florence Lukwesa praised the training as timely and well-arranged in terms of presentations.

CIDRZ thanks the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and the Vaccine Alliance for their financial support.

The MR SIA will be conducted in collaboration with other MOH implementing partners, including the Churches Health Association of Zambia (CHAZ), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the World Health Organization (WHO).