Five arrested for hiding children from immunisation officers

At least five people have been arrested in Kamuli District for allegedly resisting a government program- Immunisation.

The five were arrested from Butansi, Nawanende village in Bugulumbya sub-county after they hid their children from government health officials who had come to immunize them.

There was a stampede in the village when residents sighted government officials who had come to immunize children according to a mass immunization directive by the central government which commenced Tuesday.

Residents hid children in gardens, under beds, while others sent their children away until the immunization exercise comes to a close on Sunday.

In Bugulumbya, officials arrested five people who subscribe to a traditional belief that children should not be immunized by scientific methods or they will die.

According to Moses Lyagoba, the Kamuli District Health Officer (DHO), there is even a school that closed until the immunization exercise ends.

“There is a school in this sub-county with over 100 pupils, but as soon as they heard we were coming, they disappeared. The whole school closed.”

He said administrators of that particular school have also been arrested and will be arraigned before court for resisting ‘good government programs’

Meanwhile, the government has refuted claims that the measles and rubella vaccine being used to immunise children across the country is dangerous.

In a statement from the health minister Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng, she said that the vaccine does not cause any disorders as has been circulated on different social media platforms, assuring parents of their children’s safety.

“We appeal to all parents that, caretakers and guardians, to take all your children below 15 years of age for immunisation against Measles, Rubella and Polio during this mass immunisation exercise,” she said, adding that the vaccines have been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and are therefore safe, free and effective.