United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, says Nigeria has made huge progress in routine immunisation coverage.
The UN body rated Nigeria high in its National Immunisation Coverage survey.
UNICEF Chief, Kano Field office, Rahama Farah stated this at a two-day media dialogue organised by the global body in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency, NOA.
Mr Farah however maintained that despite the progress, gaps still exist as over 600,000 children in three states in the northwest; Kano, Katsina and Jigawa have not been vaccinated against childhood killer diseases.
“This is closer to about 40% of the total unimmunised children in Nigeria. Over 300,000 of those children are in Kano State, representing 50% of the three states under the UNICEF Kano Office.
“This situation is unacceptable and should be reversed urgently,” Farah said.
According to him, UNICEF is extremely concerned about the high number of children not immunised in those states.
Mr. Farah maintained that despite the efficacy of vaccines and their availability, immunisation still remains low and therefore appealed to the media to increase sensitisation about the issue.
“At UNICEF, we daily monitor the media reporting, and we see that the content on child rights issues, and stories on children and women represent a sizable content published by the robust Nigerian media.
“Let me emphasisze this, your role in advancing and promoting public health services and promoting children’s rights in Nigeria is very critical”
He pointed out that, myths, disinformation, misinformation, and rumours, have contributed a great deal to poor immunisation uptake, exposing children to high risk, and death that can be avoidable when they don’t get immunized.
The chief of field office therefore urged media practitioners across the country, to create the demand for immunisation and to raise awareness of the importance of Immunisation, by providing accurate information to caregivers, families, and communities.
Mr Farah called on the government to Increase strategic interventions to address the persistent gap in human resources and recruit additional skilled critical cadres of health workers including vaccinators, Community Health Influencers.
FRCN Abuja/Adetutu Adetule
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