© UNICEF Indonesia/2009/Djuhari

Under the shade of a tarpaulin, a dozen mothers or so comforted babies who had just been inoculated with life-saving vaccines.

Mothers and infants gathered at a makeshift health clinic, which also doubled as an emergency relief post or “posko gempa”, in a clearing still littered with debris from the earthquake that hit the area on 30 September.

During the first weeks since the earthquake that struck West Sumatra on 30 September, UNICEF Indonesia has supported a measles inoculation campaign targeting 90,000 children throughout the region. As part of the UNICEF-supported program, leaflets have been distributed and advertisements have been printed in local newspapers and aired on radio stations.
Measles vaccination in emergencies has proven to be extremely effective to prevent outbreaks and cause further deaths after a natural disaster. Those deaths are an inexcusable waste of young lives when we have the solution. More than half of some 90 health centres in four quake-stricken districts reported heavy to light damages which has affected their cold chain system. Essential equipment at the village health centres such as refrigerators and cool boxes that help prevent vaccine spoilage are not working or could not be accessed because of rubble.  This means vaccines needed to be transported directly from the provincial and district health offices to the villages, raising operational costs. UNICEF is also stepping in to help fund gaps here and to ensure that the vaccines get to the children.
Health workers working round the clock to provide first aid to survivors now have the additional task of organizing vaccination teams who make lists of mothers and babies and fan out to the villages in Padang city, Pariaman city, Padang Pariaman and Agam districts. 

“We cannot wait for mothers to come to the health centres,” said Dr. Irene, the immunization chief at the provincial health office, whose own house was reduced to rubble by the earthquake.  “I have made a commitment not to rest until we have gone out and visited all these villagers.”
Dr. Irene tells every mother she meets how the airborne measles virus can infect children and leave them with life-long disabilities: including blindness, deafness or brain damage.