The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) has called on the media to increase aware on Routine Immunisation (RI) across the country.
At the opening of a three-day media dialogue Tuesday in Yola, Adamawa state, the Communication for Development (C4D) specialist, UNICEF, Mrs. Elizabeth Onitolo said the dialogue is to improve the knowledge of key media practitioners on low routine immunization coverage adding that it is also to strengthen alliance with the media.
Mrs. Onitolo in her presentation, Polio Key Messages Post Certification” at the dialogue organised by UNICEF in partnership with the Child Right Bureau (CRIB) of the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture said that there are possibility for polio disease to resurface after Nigeria has been certified free by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Mrs. Onitolo also said the recorded success was still fragile because immunisation coverage was low and that many parents were not still compliant, many children are not vaccinated and environmental sanitation and personal hygiene in communities were still low providing possible grounds for polio outbreak.
She said the only way to keep safe is to vaccinate every child and maintain healthy immunity adding that no child should die from a vaccine-preventable disease.
The Specialist also said that with the emergence of Covid-19 in Nigeria, routine immunisation was affected which might put many children at risk of preventable diseases.
The communication Officer, UNICEF, Folashade Adebayo also said the the objective of the dialogue is to increase knowledged and awareness of key media practitioners in the risk of low RI coverage, due to COVID19 lockdown last year.
“It was also to urged the media to increase the risk perception of the public on COVID-19 and promote preventive measures including pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical measures. It is to provide the media with additional sources of information on COVID-19 vaccines to counter disinformation, misinformation and rumours.”
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Muhammed at the dialogue also said, Nigeria is at a critical point in ensuring access to and update of RI by children across the country and the immunisation challenge is compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic which has resulted in even numbers of children immunised and unimmunised including against polio.
The Minister, represented by Temitoye Falayi of the Ministry said, despite the certification of Nigeria from Polio, there is an urgent need to address the immunisation situation in Nigeria with attention to COVID-19 and it’s impact of RI and the roll our of Immunisation for COVID-19.
