The government of Ekiti State has urged all parties involved to back the effort to guarantee children’s safety and well-being by guaranteeing their unrestricted access to medical care, including vaccinations.
During a one-day quarterly meeting of the Social and Behavioural Change Committee, which was organized by the Ekiti State Ministry of Information in partnership with the United Nations Children’s Fund to promote the cause of children in Ekiti State and Nigeria, Olusesan Alabi, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Information, gave the charge in Ado Ekiti on Saturday.
According to Alabi, “Children’s right to good health is very important because it empowers and promotes healthy generations and helps shape the future.” However, the full realization of this right is still hampered by ingrained sociocultural barriers and false information.”Be agents of disseminating messages on the values and benefits of taking children for immunisation in order to protect children from childhood diseases which may lead to untimely death,” he exhorted the members of the SBC Committee. “Vaccine is a safe, reliable, and effective means to ensure our children remain healthy and free from numerous preventable diseases which can be fatal,” stated Aderonke Akinola-Adewole, a UNICEF Social and Behavioural Change specialist, who advocated for increased awareness to dispel the myths and beliefs preventing vaccine uptake.
Akinola-Adewole, represented by the Ekiti State Health Educator, Olajumoke Oguntoye, listed the benefits of ensuring the children take vaccine during the scheduled immunisation programmes or as the case may be, included “protection against dangerous diseases like measles, polio, and influenza; and reduces the severity of illness if the disease is contracted.
The SBC specialist added that being immunised “contributes to the overall health of communities by reducing the spread of contagious diseases and also helps in achieving global health goals, such as the eradication of diseases like smallpox”.
Oguntoye specifically urged parents, private school owners, and religious leaders to support vaccination and disseminate the word in order to guarantee that children were vaccinated.
In order to guarantee a healthier future for everybody, she urged everyone to support and take part in immunization programs. Immunization is a vital tool for public health promotion, disease prevention, and life preservation.
The World Health Organization lists 25 diseases for which vaccines are available, including TB, diphtheria, tetanus, influenza, poliomyelitis, hepatitis E, hepatitis B, hepatitis A, human papillomavirus (HPV), Rubella, cholera, anthrax, yellow fever, rabies, typhoid fever, pneumoccocal disease, hemophilus influenza type, meningococcal disease, mumps, varicella and herpes zoster, and rotavirus gastroenteritis.
The State Immunisation Officer, Omolabake Ogundola, who said the importance of immunising children against preventable diseases could not be overstressed, disabused people’s minds against rumours, misinformation and religious beliefs inhibiting uptake of the vaccine.
Ogundola, represented by the Assistant State Immunisation Programme Officer, Felicia Olorode, urged parents and stakeholders to ensure eligible girls were presented for the HPV vaccination targeted at immunising more children in Ado, Ikere, Oye, Gbonyin and Ise/Orun local government areas.
She said, “The ongoing HPV immunisation programme for children aged 9-14 is to protect girls from cervical cancer. Cervical cancer is one of the diseases killing women. So we want to stop it. ”
A former State Health Educator and the Executive Director, Foundation for Justice and Social Development, Lola Ologuntoye, encouraged residents “to release their children for immunisation because it is very important to protect them against the diseases. They should remove myths and misconceptions. Immunisation is very important in the lives of our children so that this will fight against diseases affecting little children. ”
“I go to my target communities, meet with the stakeholders, because for any program to succeed, there must be community involvement, community participation, ownership, and sustainability,” Ologuntoye said, referring to the extensive work her NGO has been doing to support the state, particularly at the grassroots level.
The National Orientation Agency, the Christian Association of Nigeria, the Muslim community, community-based organizations, civil society organizations, market women, health and immunization personnel, and the media were among the stakeholders present at the conference. Source=Punch news
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