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Measles Initiative Saving African Children
By Adam C. Olson, Church Magazines
A study published in The Lancet, an international medical journal, in September credits high-quality measles immunization campaigns, such as the Measles Initiative in which the Church is participating, for having reduced measles cases by 91 percent in 19 African nations from 2000 to 2003, preventing an estimated 90,000 child deaths in 2003 alone.
“One of the clearest messages from this study is that with the right strategies, a strong partnership of committed organizations, and the investment of sufficient resources, you can rapidly reduce child deaths in Africa,” said Dr. Mac Otten, medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and lead author of the study. “A big reason for this success is the support from the Measles Initiative.”
The Measles Initiative is a five-year program created in 2001 by the American Red Cross, United Nations Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United Nations Children's Fund, World Health Organization, and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. The goal of these organizations was to control measles deaths in Africa by vaccinating 200 million children in up to 36 African countries by the year 2006, preventing an estimated 1.2 million deaths.
Having worked with the Church before on disaster relief, the Red Cross approached the Church to support the initiative in 2002. After Harold Brown, managing director of Welfare and Humanitarian Services for the Church, observed the Measles Initiative at work in Zambia in June 2003, the Church pledged $3 million to the effort over the remaining three years of the initiative.
“We were analyzing our major initiatives and felt the Measles Initiative was a good fit and a way for us to make a real difference,” said Brother Brown. “There is really no way to convey what it is like to see the Measles Initiative at work. It's a logistics miracle, the way they can vaccinate millions of children in only a few days.”
Measles-related deaths worldwide have plummeted 39 percent, from 873,000 in 1999 to an estimated 530,000 in 2003, according to the American Red Cross. The largest reduction occurred in Africa, the region most affected by the disease, where estimated measles deaths decreased by nearly half. Before the Measles Initiative, measles killed nearly half a million children each year in Africa.
At the end of 2004, more than 150 million children in more than 30 countries had been vaccinated at a cost of under $1 per child. The initiative's partners hope to vaccinate more than 45 million children in 12 countries, including Mozambique, exceeding their original goals. (See accompanying article on Sister Bonnie D. Parkin.)
“The Church has once again illustrated its significant commitment to ending suffering on a worldwide basis,” said Marsha J. Evans, American Red Cross President and CEO, upon receiving the Church's pledge. “We cannot express our enormous gratitude.”
Sister Bonnie D. Parkin Pitches in Against Measles
Sister Bonnie D. Parkin, Relief Society general president, believes that when President Gordon B. Hinckley approved the Church's commitment to the Measles Initiative he “didn't foresee this as just a way to protect children against measles, but as a way to give members a chance to serve.”
Sister Parkin said many members from among the more than 3,000 living in 16 branches in Mozambique participated in the Measles Initiative mass vaccination campaign held in areas outside of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, during September.
“The members really became involved in the community,” said Sister Parkin. “This has helped bring the Church out of obscurity.”
Many of the young men and women living in the campaign's target areas went door to door, notifying people of the availability and the importance of the vaccinations. They were helped by a number of young single adults.
Relief Society sisters helped to manage the crowds of hundreds of children, some with their mothers, some without.
“I saw women who are no different than I am,” Sister Parkin said. “They care about their children and their grandchildren. They came with children on their backs and one holding each hand. They walked the dusty road. I didn't see any one of them drive up. They wanted their children to be well. It was because of the love mothers feel for their families and their children, who aren't any different from my own grandchildren.”
One day of the campaign, Sister Parkin was helping with crowd control, checking children for the ink mark indicating those who had received the vaccination. One young boy didn't have the mark. Through her translator, Sister Parkin asked why he hadn't received his shot. He said he was afraid. “Will you go if I go with you?” Sister Parkin asked.
“It was a sweet experience,” Sister Parkin recalled after returning from the trip. “Maybe I've helped one child. It was life-changing for me.”
More than nine million children were vaccinated during the vaccination campaign in Mozambique. The campaign was the second in which Sister Parkin has participated because of her role on the Church's Welfare Committee. She also visited Ethiopia as part of the Measles Initiative in 2004.
Sister Parkin said part of her role was “to see that it really does come together the way it's planned.”
Months of preparation precede a mass vaccination campaign. A full-time missionary couple, Blair and Cindy Packard, served a specialized four-month mission to lay groundwork for the September campaign in Mozambique. Part of their work was to publicize the event. They worked closely with Maria de Lourdes Mutola, an 800-meter gold medalist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, who is from Mozambique. Another full-time missionary couple was called to prepare for the Ethiopia campaign.
Sister Parkin also held training sessions with local leaders who are relatively new to the Church. The Mozambique Maputo Mission was created in December 2004. “They are young pioneers,” she said.
She also met with Mozambique President Armando Guebuza. She said he was appreciative of the Church's role in what was being done for his people.
“I feel blessed to be a member of the Church, which cares not just for its own members but for everyone,” Sister Parkin said. “It's truly amazing. I'm grateful that I can tell my grandchildren what kind of church we belong to.”
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