Thursday, July 9, 2009

In one state in Nigeria, 60,000 children still need polio vaccinations

From The Vanguard in Nigeria:

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, last week flagged -off another round of the Sub-National Immunization Plus Days (SNIDs) at Ikota Primary School, Lekki Expressway, Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state with a pledge to seriously address the various challenges besetting immunization activities in the state.

The prevailing situation has left over 60,000 children in the state un-immunized and made attainment of a polio free state difficult. And this may explain why not many Lagosians at the well- attended event, including journalists, believed the Governor.

Considering the enormity of the problem, some felt it was the usual political gambit of merely paying lipservice to deceive the poor masses or another way of scoring cheap political point.

The Governor, however, did not mince words when he also declared that in order to reach the 60,000 un -immunized children and to ensure the four days exercise covered all nooks and crannies of the state, the state Ministry of Health would establish immunization posts at every point in the state, including major bus-stops and markets.

Even with this declaration, the murmuring of disbelief continued as some members of the gathering thought it was not the first time they have heard such beautiful political statements from government.

Apparently, tired of the many promises of past governments that were never fulfilled they dismissed his (Fashola) words with a wave of the hand.

Sub-National Immunization Plus Days (SNIDs) are special days set aside by both federal and state governments to immunize children against the dreaded Wild Polio Virus (WPV) which has continued to paralyse children between the ages of zero and 59 months.

Statistics available have shown that Nigeria remains among the few countries that have failed to eradicate polio inspite of the repeated immunization exercises across the country.

However, little did these doubting Thomas know that Governor Fashola’s administration was determined to match action with words just as he has been doing with his other developmental and people-oriented projects, especially those of concern to the most vulnerable group in the society, women and children.

According to the Governor, child survival interventions, especially immunisations, apart from constituting part of the rights of the child, have been widely acknowledged as a veritable strategy towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as the reduction of under-5 mortality.

To him, the health of children in Lagos State remains crucial to the state government as it has continued to attract world attention.

This reporter, who monitored the exercise in some parts of the state affirm that vaccinators were seen in all the major bus-stops and markets across the state.

At the popular Cele Bus-stop along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Vanguard Metro sighted five vaccinators swooping on women for on -the -spot immunization of the children they were carrying.

The vaccinators were forthright in carrying out their assigment even when they encountered uncooperative mothers.

It was indeed exciting watching the unfolding drama that Monday morning as vaccinators and some mothers ascending or descending the paedestrian bridge engaged in a game of wits and will over whether a child would be vaccinated or not.

The exercise attracted passers-by and onlookers who soon gathered in groups and began to discuss the development. Some of them could not help but wonder aloud at the zeal demonstrated by the vaccinators in the execution of their job and the reluctance of some mothers to cooperate with them.

One of the mothers who stopped for her one year and two months baby, Master Perfection Onyeji to receive two drops of the oral polio vaccine told Vanguard Metro that it has never been done before in the history of the state, saying that “the exercise will definitely encourage mothers to immunize their children.

“You can see most of us are in hurry to get to our shops and offices. If it continues like this I believe many children will no longer miss immunization”. Other spots where the vaccinators were sighted included Ode-erun markets, Lawanson, Ojuelegba, Oshodi, Mushin amongst other places.

Giving insight why government decided to introduce vaccinator posts at various bus-stops and markets, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, said it was to check imported cases of Wild Polio Virus (WPV) in the state.

He disclosed that a recent investigation by his Ministry revealed that the states are being re-infected with wild polio virus after being certified polio free a year ago.

“It is another strategy to ensure that our vaccinators comb all the nooks and crannies of the state to immunize all children aged between 0 and five years with oral polio vaccine.

“We are also using the opportunity to seriously address the various challenges that have beset routine immunization and supplemental immunization activities in the state.

Again, the decision to establish permanent posts would be based on the outcome of the border synchronisation meetings for Lagos State, Ogun State and the Benin Republic.

He explained that the failure to reach and immunize all children resulting in clusters of un-immunized children is the reason that Nigeria continues to experience transmission of wild polio virus as well as circulating vaccine - derived polio virus.

Idris stated that the population dynamics of Lagos State which encourages daily influx into the State is such that nothing should be left to chance with regards to polio eradication as the virus stands a great risk of being perpetually imported into the State.