By Iliya Kure
The November National Measles Campaign has kicked-off in 19 Northern States of Nigeria and Abuja (including 96 Internally Displaced Person’s Camps), targeting over 25 million children across the region.
The exercise which runs between Saturday to Wednesday is focused on vaccinating children aged 9 months to 5 years, against the deadly virus.
According to World Health Organisation (WHO), in 2013 alone, measles has killed about 400 un-immunised children on daily basis, equivalent to 16 deaths per hour.
In some cases, the disease leaves the un-immunised with disabilities like blindness and/or dumpiness; a child is considered adequately immunised against the disease when they receive one dose of the vaccine.
Last year, Nigeria recorded 4,392 cases of measles in 296 LGAs in 32 States.
The country waxed cold in its measles campaign for almost ten years, beginning mid 1990’s. This had created a burden which the country must work hard to overcome.
When Nigeria resumed measles mass campaign in 2006, children up to 15 years old were also immunised to ensure closure of the gap created.
A world Bank report says, in 2013, only 59 percent of children between 12-23 months were vaccinated against measles in Nigeria.
But in line with global push, the country says it is committed to total eradication of measles by 2020. It is currently working hard to ensure over 95% coverage.
The ongoing campaign “will hold virtually at all public places including bus stops, churches, major traffic points and border towns, among others.” Says Dr. Mohammed Ado, the Executive Director, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency.
He told journalist that “It is very important because a successful campaign would reduce 40 per cent of under 5 mortality in the country.”
A new data on Measles & Rubella Initiative released by WHO estimates that 17.1 million lives have been saved since 2000, largely due to increased vaccination coverage against the highly contagious viral disease.
“The number of measles-related deaths has decreased 79% from 546,800 at the beginning of the century to 114,900 in 2014.” The report says
In Niger State, North-Central Nigeria, the turn-out for the exercise has been impressive, with parents trooping to the immunisation post to have their children vaccinated. The State is looking at vaccinating close to a million children.
But on day-one of the November campaign in Niger State, 3 cases of measles have been reported in Chanchaga Local Government.
It has raised concern among the officials, “this shows how important and timely this immunisation campaign is. You must work hard to ensure effective coverage by vaccinating all eligible children” says Director Primary Healthcare of Chanchaga LGA, Malam Usman Shamaki, while addressing Focal Persons from all the Wards of the LGA.
Early November, the state had announced the loss of 5 children to measles out of the 109 cases recorded between January and October.
Executive Director of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHDA), Dr. Aliyu Yabagi Shehu, had told journalists that those affected were aged between nine months to five years, following denial of access by their parents during measles vaccination days.
Nigeria is working hard to overcome child killer diseases, this can be seen in the amount of money invested in the conduct of Mass Vaccination Campaigns and strengthening of its Routine Immunisation.
But for the country to succeed in its current drive, the leadership must address a number of issues that affects the quality of its mass immunisation campaigns over the years; chief among them, the attitude of vaccinators, who sometimes hardly adhere to standards while vaccinating children; and sometimes falsify the number of children immunised, which affects the genuineness of data.
