The Oshana Region is targeting more than 30,000 children in a 10-day integrated vaccination campaign against measles, rubella and polio.

The campaign, which offers vaccines free of charge, aims to protect eligible children and reach those who missed routine immunisation due to limited access to health services.

The campaign aims to strengthen protection among eligible children while reaching those who missed routine vaccinations because of limited access to health services.

The campaign was launched by the Health Director for Oshana Region, Johanna Haimene, who assured parents that the vaccines are safe and explained the age group targeted by the campaign.

"We are targeting vaccinating children under the age of 5 years for measles. That means from 14 weeks up to 49 months, targeting a total of 30,389. Those are the number of children that we are aiming to reach in Oshana."

Oshana Region's Chief Health Programme Officer for Family Health, Lidwina Kornelius, warned that measles and polio can cause serious illness in children.

She emphasised that vaccination, offered free of charge, is an effective way to prevent these diseases.

“The type of vaccination that we are going to use in this campaign for polio is injection, and we are going to inject it in the right thigh of the eligible child. The polio is intramuscular; we inject it into the muscle.”

Alina Amutenya was among the first parents to bring her children to Eluwa Clinic in Ongwediva for vaccination.

“I brought my children to Eluwa Clinic for immunisation because it is very important, as it prevents diseases like we hear on the radio stations. The process is smooth and doesn't take long.”

The campaign started on 9 November and will run until 18 November 2026.