From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Lagos
The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has expressed concern that 200,000 children in Lagos State have not been vaccinated against childhood killer diseases due to vaccine hesitancy and misinformation.
The Chief of Health in the UNICEF Nigeria Country Office, Eduardo Celades, said Monday, when he led a delegation including a Kannywood Actor and UNICEF champion Ali Nuhu, Dr Chioma Nwakanma-Akanoo, a doctor and influencer, and Olabintan Odunola, team lead at The Health City, to Bola Tinubu and Rauf Aregbesola primary healthcare centres the two out of 36 in Alimosho local government area as part of a field trip and media dialogue on vaccine hesitancy being hosted by the organization in Lagos.
Celades admitted that while UNICEF deals with women’s and children’s health it cannot do it alone.
“We work with governments, and partners, but how we communicate and influence others is very important,” he said.
He said COVID-19 vaccination has been a huge success in Nigeria, but asked “what did we learn from that and how do move to the next level?
“How do we reach these children that don’t have any vaccine for example, in Lagos alone we have 200,000 with no vaccines at all.”
The UNICEF champion Nuhu, speaking against vaccine hesitancy, advised parents to make sure their children are vaccinated saying “prevention is better than cure.”
He appealed to parents, that for humanity’s sake and for the future of the child, they should shun conspiracy theories and ensure their children are immunized against preventable diseases.
Nwakanma-Akanoo, on her part, said the tour was to find out the reason behind vaccine hesitancy in Nigeria.
UNICEF has been at the forefront of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and other preventable diseases, promoting social behaviour change, COVID-19 vaccination, systemic health system strengthening, and routine immunization. To effectively communicate messages on these important issues, it is important to make the most of this media dialogue.
According to the World Health Organization, Nigeria has one of the highest rates of unvaccinated children in the world, despite being home to one in every eight babies born globally. Due to multiple factors such as limited access to vaccines, health care services, and insufficient awareness, many children in Nigeria remain unvaccinated against preventable diseases.