Babies travel miles to get immunised

THESE two babies, one three-months  and other one-month-old, had to be taken by public motor vehicle (PMV) bus for a 45km ride – from Lae to Nadzab – to be immunised against various diseases.
The reason for this long ride was that they could not be vaccinated at the children’s clinic at the Angau Memorial Hospital even though both were Lae residents because their mothers were told by the staff that the clinic no longer provided the bebi sut – the immunisation vaccinations for babies.
They then went to a suburban clinic where they would normally be treated for ailments but the clinic was closed for reasons not known.
So the mothers had no choice but to take their babies on a long PMV trip to Nadzab to receive the attention needed at the Wampar local level government health centre.
The staff at Wampar were courteous and kind to mothers and the babies. Both babies received their vaccinations.
PNG health indicators show that many babies in PNG die before the age of five from various diseases.
That is why immunisation is critical to ensuring that a baby is protected from various diseases in a timely fashion.