6 Reasons Why You Should Vaccinate Your Child

According to the World Health Organization, Immunization is the process by which a person is made resistant to an infectious disease by vaccine administration and is estimated to avert 2 and 3 million deaths a year.

Vaccination is widely accepted in Kenya, with most hospitals and clinics have a kind of a mum and baby facility or a wellness center. However, there are some parents who are against vaccination due to various reasons such as religion or traditional beliefs. Others simply don’t know where to start.

For any new mum to be, these are the places where you can take your baby for vaccination as well as vaccination schedule for children under the age of two years. In case you have any queries or concerns, always feel free to ask your doctor.

    1. Vaccination Protects Your Child Against 14 Diseases.

Think about it.  Diphtheria, Chickenpox, Mumps, Rotavirus, Pneumococcal disease, whooping cough, measles, Haemophilus influenza type b, rubella, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, Influenza, Tetanus, and polio. Delaying your child’s immunization can make them further susceptible to the diseases.

    2. It’s cost-effective

Vaccination does not require any lifestyle change, is incorporated into the baby’s wellness clinics and saves regions and countries from epidemics. It is therefore very cost effective as opposed to managing diseases or outbreaks 

     3.Eradicates infectious diseases

Diseases such as polio in Kenya have decreased due to immunization and radical efforts that include outreach activities to curb infection rates. Over time, these efforts have led to decreased infection rates.

It would be amazing for Kenya to be polio-free.

4. Peace of mind

Any parent who has vaccinated their children has peace of mind that they won’t be attacked by the above diseases. If you choose not to vaccinate, however, you’ll be constantly paranoid and assume the worst of any small symptom.

5. Protect other children and the community as well

This is called herd immunity and means that if there are more vaccinated members in a community, then the vaccine acts as a firewall against the outbreak.

Parents who choose not to vaccinate their children place other children in danger and newborns as well. This is because the diseases are infectious, have to be controlled and failure to vaccinate doesn’t contribute to the country’s bottom-line.

6. Improves the quality of life

Any family that chooses to vaccinate their children, chooses a better life for them, their family and ultimately their country as well. Vaccination ensures that a family’s and a country’s resources meant to cater to other needs are not used for dealing with outbreaks.

At a small level, your child’s performance at home, school and in the community will not be affected by diseases that can be prevented.

Are you for or against vaccination? Let us know in the comments below.

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