Clement Adeyi, Osogbo
To checkmate the spate of infant mortality in Nigeria, the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and healthcare givers have advocated child immunisation to prevent diseases that account for the menace.
Diverse cases of child mortality, according to health reports, have been attributed to non-immunisation either due to poor inadequacy of immunisation programmes, poor awareness, ignorance on the parts of parents, especially nursing mothers, inaccessibility to immunisation services among other factors.
The Ministry of Health, Osun State, intensified immunisation programmes to ensure sound health for children and to prevent children diseases.
The programme involved campaigns to take children to hospitals and primary health centres as well as parents› doorsteps for routine and periodical immunisation through the help of child healthcare providers.
The number of children immunised in 2018 stood at 5,412, while pregnant women and out patients immunised against tetanus toxoid were 3,097. The overall total for 2018 was 8,509. Between January and August, 6,665 children were immunised.
The Assistant Director and Head of Department (HOD) of Nursing Services, State Specialist Hospital, Asubiaro, Osogbo, Mrs Ajiboye Adebisi, lamented that the programme faced some challenges such as poor awareness, carelessness, ignorance and illiteracy on the parts of parents, especially nursing mothers, shortage of health workers and immunisation facilities among others. These pose serious dangers as many children cannot access immunisation programmes.
Health experts have stressed that Routine Immunisation (RI) remains one of the most cost-effective initiative any country can use to protect its children against diseases and give them a chance to live a healthy life. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), vaccination ensured prevention of millions of child mortality around the world.
Through vaccination, many children have been prevented from diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, whooping cough, measles and polio. Health experts identified several challenges facing routine immunisation in the country to include illiteracy, ignorance or low awareness on immunisation, misconception, inadequate refrigerators or cold chains equipment, shortage of vaccines and immunisation supplies, religion, political influence and negative attitude of health workers.
These contributed to the poor immunisation coverage in Nigeria. For instance, in 2003, some parts of the country boycotted immunisation following rumours that polio vaccines can cause infertility.
Adebisi disclosed that the commonest diseases that pose dangers to children’s health included poliomelytis, hepatitis B, meningitis, yellow fever, whooping cough, pneumonia, measles among others.
She called on nursing mothers to take immunisation programme serious by ensuring that their children access the programme in hospitals or during immunisation outreaches embarked upon by health workers:
“Every baby must undertake three vaccines at birth. First is six hours after birth against oral polio and hepatitis B. Six weeks after the baby has to take another vaccination. The third is 10 weeks later. At nine months the baby has to take another immunisation. At one year and nine months the baby must also take vaccination. At 10 years old, the baby must also take vaccination.
“But one of the major challenges is that at this age, some parents believe that the child is already grown up and do not bother to bring him or her for the final round of immunisation. Also, some parents do not stick to the advice. If you give them the next appointment, some of them would not come for three months. It is when their children breakdown before they would start rushing to the hospital.”
Assistant Director of Nursing Services, Mrs Bamidele Odetola, said: “There are social workers in the Ministry of Health who take care of such mothers and babies. As soon as they get information on such birth, they take the babies and their mothers to welfare homes from where the babies are taken to the hospital for immunisation and later returned to the welfare home. The mother also gets immunised against diseases in order not to infect the babies.
“UNICEF should ensure more vaccines available. Some clinics, especially in rural areas where there is no light need solar freezer to protect their vaccines. They should also engender more vaccination programmes on meningitis and hepatitis.”
Nursing mothers share their experiences too. Mrs Orisatola Damilola said: “My baby is three months old. She has taken four immunisations so far against polio, meningitis and hepatitis B. Agbo (herbal medicine) is not recommended. It doesn’t have dose. That is why immunisation is better. Mothers who give Agbo to their babies do so because of ignorance. Some of them are afraid of immunisation because they think it has side effect, but it is not so. We thank UNICEF for their efforts so far on immunisation.”
Mrs Adepoju Modyat: “My baby is six weeks old. Immunisation is very important. This is my second child. That is why I discovered the importance. He is very healthy due to immunisation. Some children fall sick because their mothers don’t take immunisation serious.»
Mrs Funmilayo Adesina: “My baby is three months old. He has received four immunisations so far. Illiteracy and ignorance are some of the reasons some mothers don’t take their babies for immunisation. Lack of awareness by health care providers is also responsible. I learnt that some children have died because their mothers failed to take them for immunisation. Thank God for UNICEF which has been advocating the programme.»
Mrs Oyedokun Kafilat: “My baby is five months. He has not fallen sick because of immunisation and exclusive breastfeeding. He has taken four immunisations so far for hepatitis B, the one that takes care of liver and kidney and for vitamin A.
“I have a friend who does not want to take her child for immunisation. I have been advising her but she doesn’t want to listen. But she has started complaining that the child falls sick from time to time. If she is not careful, she may lose that child but God forbid.»
Mrs Abibat Adeyemo, a mother of four said: “She was supposed to take polio vaccination when she clocked six months. But I took it for granted that the initial vaccination she took at birth and three months later would cover up.
“So, I failed to take her to the hospital as I was instructed by the nurses to bring her whenever she clocked six months. Like play, play my baby fell sick and it was discovered that she had polio. Thank God she was treated. I almost lost her. It was ignorance on my part.
«Since then, I don›t joke with her immunisation. Very soon, she will be nine months and I must take her to the hospital for the nine month-old immunisation.