The Government of Lagos State in southwest Nigeria has made public its plans to commence a state-wide vaccination of residents against measles, yellow-fever and human papillomavirus (HPV).
Adetola Akinpelu, Immunization Programme Coordinator for Lagos State Primary Healthcare Board, stated this on the sidelines of a two-day media parley titled: A Media Dialogue To Enhance Routine Immunization And To Reduce Zero-dose Children, organized in partnership with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) in Lagos.
Akinpelu said the target is to get about 21 million residents vaccinated to prevent the onslaught of those three diseases, thus lessening the burden on the healthcare system and giving residents a new lease of life.
“The target of the campaign is to vaccinate the citizens against measles, yellow fever and also to ensure that our girls that are yet to get the HPV vaccine use that opportunity to get the vaccination.
“The age range for the yellow-fever vaccine is from 9 months to 44 years of age, and If you look at that, it gives us about 80 perecnt of the state population which is where we arrived at the 21 million used as our target,” he said.
Akinpelu emphasized that vaccination remains the best method any state can adopt to provide protection against preventable diseases, urging Lagosians to take advantage of the opportunity.
He explained that the vaccination drive would prioritize both under-vaccinated and zero-dose children, ensuring that even those in hard to reach areas are vaccinated and not left behind.
“If you look at the totality of how you prevent diseases, the first step is vaccination before you start looking for other lifestyle changes and treatment. And if we can get a good number of our population, ideally we say 90 percent, vaccinated, we would have done well.
“But our target as a state is to make sure that every child is vaccinated. We don’t want to leave any child behind. And what that means is that, once you get that target, there’s a ripple effect.”
The Programme Coordinator, who noted that the immunity gaps created by the Covid-19 lockdown resulted in outbreaks of some vaccine preventable diseases in the state, said the latest drive would help close the gaps.
He added that the aggressive state-wide immunization would touch different categories of residents, ranging from children to teenagers and adults.
“For the measles vaccine, were looking at children from the ages of 9 months to 59 months. And this is a unique opportunity for those that have not gotten their first dose of the vaccine to get it and for those that have not gotten their second dose to also get it. Just as the yellow-fever targets 9 months-44 years of age. The drive is for the state to achieve herd immunity.”
Chief of UNICEF Field Office for southwest Nigeria, Celine Lafoucriere, who spoke earlier, stated that vaccines are crucial to the health of children, stressing that it is a right that must not be denied them.
“Vaccines are an essential fundamental right to every child and they remain critical to improving health outcomes and reducing inequalities,” she said.
While lamenting the huge statistics of unvaccinated children in Nigeria, Lafoucriere called for more concerted efforts to reduce vaccine inequalities in the country, asking the media to tag along for the sake of the children and the nation.
She said, “They need us right now and we need you, the media to join hands to accelerate the rate of immunization in Nigeria to ensure that by each year we increase the rate of vaccinated children by 50 per cent.
“Your own influence is very important. You can catalyse actions, help dispel rumours and misinformation about vaccines.
“By working collectively, we can build a resilient health system that is capable of reaching each and every child, leaving no one behind,” she urged.
The Lagos state-wide immunization drive is expected to start on Saturday, 19th October 2024.
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