By Staff Writer
The Director General Of Health, Leausa Dr. Take Naseri, has decided to set the record straight on a Samoa Observer report critical of the handling of the measles epidemic in 2019.
Leausa in a letter sent to Newsline Samoa responded directly to the news article under the headline” “Deputy Health Chief wanted measles shots restarted” article published on Monday 15 February 2021.
His letter reads :
This letter serves to set the record straight and to clarify references that were made in the above-mentioned article.
The report as referred to above outlines the Ministry of Health recommendations to the National Health Services (NHS) in 2018.
This investigation report was prepared by the Ministry of Health at the time, led by ACEO Health Service Performance and Quality Assurance Division of the Ministry of Health – Dr Robert Thomsen.
The report’s recommendations highlighted important areas for the NHS to undertake to improve its service. The report was neither to point a finger at, nor to blame anyone.
Critical to the nature of this report was the regulatory role of the Ministry of Health in monitoring the services rendered through NHS.
It is important to note that the report was authored in 2018 before the amalgamation of the Ministry of Health and the National Health Services in February 2019.
The merger was a long process and had its own challenges on the commencement of immunization in the country.
Legal proceedings and loss of public confidence in the national immunization programme were inevitable ramifications of the incident involving the death of two infants in Savaii that further impacted on the health sector’s efforts to restart immunization.
There were many other contributing factors beyond the sector’s control that caused setbacks on the national immunization.
The Ministry of Health despite these challenges will continue to commit to improving national Immunization rates through the vaccination of all children in Samoa.
The immunization programme is continuing to date for the measles and other diseases in accordance with the National Immunization Policy.
The Ministry of Health implores the help of the country and especially the parents to ensure that all children are immunized.
