All aboard! Cameroon’s race to vaccinate every child

Cameroonian health workers are going the distance to reach the remote Island of Manoka on a quest to ensure that no child is left behind.

  • 29 April 2021
  • 3 min read
  • by Tetsekela Anyiam-Osigwe
A father holding his son while he finally gets vaccinated – Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
A father holding his son while he finally gets vaccinated – Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva

 

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteers and health workers step aboard a make-shift boat, headed to Manoka, a remote island off the coast of Douala, Cameroon’s economic capital. The boat is made of traditional wooden materials, steered by its passengers and driven by an outboard motor. Wearing life jackets and face masks, the group sits as socially distanced as they can, sharing the space with some water – a necessary carry-on for the journey – and mini-fridges.

By reaching Manoka’s zero-dose children, health workers and volunteers unlock a door that brings the entire community into contact with the health system.

These fridges are not holding refreshments. Instead, they are housing lifesaving vaccines. In each lies a small stock of routine vaccines, which the health workers are aiming to administer to the many zero-dose children of Manoka.

Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
Health care workers and vaccinators head to Manoka Island by boat
Credit: Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva

Going the distance: Where’s Manoka?

The final destination is Manoka, an archipelago located 21 kilometres off the coast of Douala, consisting of wet mangrove islands. Only accessible by boat, it is completely isolated, but harbours thousands of people.

Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
Manoka Island
Credit: Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva

The island’s residents live with poor sanitation and lack access to clean water and other essential services, such as education, stable electricity and healthcare.

Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
Children in Manoka Island
Credit: Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva

On the frontlines

The boat ride to Manoka is long, but after hours of navigating through webs of mangroves in the blistering heat, the health workers and volunteers finally make it. The first order of business is to search through the island, identifying families with young children.

Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
Health care workers and vaccinators bring out vaccines from the boat onto Manoka Island
Credit: Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva

Going from house to house, one of the volunteers holds a megaphone, alerting residents to the arrival of health workers and lifesaving vaccines.

Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
Health care worker goes around Manoka Island, meeting residents and announcing the arrival of vaccines
Credit: Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva

Finally reaching Manoka’s zero-dose children

Nearly all the children on the island are ‘zero-dose’; they have never received any routine vaccines. These zero-dose children are among the nearly 10 million children in lower-income countries that miss out on vaccines every year, leaving them vulnerable to some of the world’s deadliest diseases.

They are the reason the difficult journey was worth it, even during a pandemic. Without immunisation, the many children on the island are more likely to fall prey to deadly, preventable diseases.

Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
A woman holding her son, who is getting vaccinated in the clinic
Credit: Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
A mother holding her child as the health worker administers a vaccine
Credit: Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
A child in Manoka Island
Credit: Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
A mother and child in Manoka Island
Credit: Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva

Beyond zero-dose

Reaching these children also means reaching the missed communities in Manoka that they are a part of. The island is one of Cameroon’s poorer regions, prone to flooding and coastal erosion. Apart from being deprived of basic healthcare services, residents rely on just one generator for the entire Island. 

Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva
Occupants of Manoka Island, Cameroon
Credit: Gavi/2021/Christophe Da Silva

By reaching Manoka’s zero-dose children, health workers and volunteers unlock a door that brings the whole community into contact with the health system. This health system progressively establishes service delivery infrastructure, supply chains, data systems and community engagement – all of which are needed to deliver immunisation effectively.

This generates an additional and highly significant benefit: a platform through which other essential healthcare and non-healthcare services for both adults and children – from antenatal care to clear water and education – can also be delivered. This has the potential to give everyone on the island a better chance at a healthy, successful life.