Paediatricians educate students on immunisation as unvaccinated children hit 2.2million

Under the auspices of the Paediatric Association of Nigeria, paediatricians have emphasised how critical it is to raise the nation's childhood immunisation rate.

One strategy they suggested for raising vaccination awareness was to teach Lagos State high school students about the significance of art competitions.

The paediatricians who coordinated a student creative art competition said that the goal was to spread the word about vaccination to every Nigerian.

Under the theme "Investing in our Future means investing in our Children," PAN arranged the celebration of this year's Children's Day.

According to child health experts, artistic expression conveys a lot, and the kids' art competition will not only assist kids learn more about vaccinations but also educate parents, communities, and educators about immunisations through art.

In her welcoming speech, PAN President Prof. Ekanem Ekure cited alarming data regarding the number of children in Nigeria who have received no vaccinations and asked everyone to take an active role in immunisation if the nation is to see a rise in uptake.

It is regrettable, according to the professor of paediatric cardiology at the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, that Nigeria is home to the second-highest number of zero-dose children worldwide, with 2.2 million of the 4.4 million zero-dose children in West Africa.

youngsters who did not receive even one dose of any vaccine as part of the regular national immunisation schedule are known as zero-dose youngsters.

The number of children who have not received the first dose of the Tetanus, Pertussis, and Diphtheria vaccine is used to measure them.

The consultant paediatric cardiologist at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital voiced worry that many under-five children in Nigeria were still dying needlessly from diseases that could have been prevented by vaccination, despite the fact that immunisations save at least four million lives annually and worldwide.

"We decided to hold an art competition to see how students can use creative art to express themselves on the topic of immunisation," Ekure stated.

Regretfully, according to national immunisation coverage figures as of right now, that is the vaccine that should have been received at the 14th week of age is just about 57 per cent generally for Nigeria.

“But if you know, say a child who has received all the vaccines that are in the National Immunisation Schedule, we are down to 23 per cent and that is low for our country. That is what we mean by zero dose children.”

The Fellow of the West African College of Physicians said the low uptake of childhood immunisation was fuelling under-five mortality in Nigeria.

Therefore, it is not unexpected that we have a very high under-five mortality rate, he continued. Sadly, the majority of the deaths of children under five in the globe are caused by diseases that are preventable. Children can now get immunisations for free thanks to the government.

Nigeria accounts for half of the 4.4 million zero-dose children living in West Africa. Very depressing! Nigerian urban slums and isolated, difficult-to-reach locations are the leading locations for those zero children.

Therefore, a lot of work needs to be done to guarantee that children in those areas receive these immunisations. Immunisations prevent four million deaths worldwide each year.

Vaccines have safely decreased the scourge of diseases like polio and measles and eradicated smallpox while helping children grow up happy and healthy, according to the United Nations Children's Fund, which ranks vaccines as one of the greatest achievements in world health and development.

The following are some of the major diseases that kill children and can be prevented by vaccination: influenza, malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, TB, polio, diphtheria, whooping cough, and measles.

The doctor offered suggestions for the future, stating that immunisation should be the responsibility of all parties involved in Nigeria. She emphasised that this includes the government, medical professionals, parents, communities, traditional and religious leaders, and all other stakeholders.

The president of PAN stated, "Of course, the government's job is to make vaccinations available, make sure the cold chain is maintained, and there is no stock out. And to also ensure health workers are available to provide the vaccines when needed.

“The health workers have a responsibility to make sure that these children are taken where they should receive the vaccination.

“Also, the community — the traditional and religious leaders all have roles to play in this. We need traditional and religious leaders to lend their voices to this cause so that the lives of our children will be saved.

Professional groups such as PAN can then represent carers, the government, and other stakeholders.

Ekure pleaded with the media to dispel myths and rumours about immunisation.

In her remarks, Professor Folasade Ogunsola, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, stated that their responsibility was to raise the youngsters to become responsible adults.

The children were pushed to mature and become responsible adults by the VC, who was represented by Prof. Adebayo Babalola.

During her presentation on "Facts in Immunisation," Dr. Iretiola Fajuolu, an associate professor at the University of Lagos College of Medicine, described immunisation as a gift from God that can help prevent infectious diseases.

LUTH consultant paediatrician Fajuolu stated, "It is our corporate social responsibility and it is a way of getting ourselves protected from harmful disease. Immunisation is a very viable tool to prevent infectious diseases. Vaccines have been made available for over thirty diseases, which are infectious diseases and what vaccines do.”
One of the main causes of the nation's low childhood immunisation uptake, according to the neonatologist, is ignorance.

"We continue to have very low indexes. One of the main causes of our people's lack of vaccines is ignorance. So, in order to teach people, we need all hands on deck. The paediatrician stated, "We need the media to inform Nigerians about the value of immunisations."

The announcement of the children's art competition winners and the awarding of those winners marked the event's high point.

The winner of the first award, Ugochukwu Anthony, an SS2 student from National College Gbagada, accepted a N150,000 check.

Akinsanya Ibukuoluwa, an SS 3 student from Igbobi College, Yaba, won the second prize and was awarded a N100,000 cheque. Olawale Owonikoko, the third place winner, was handed a N50,000 cheque.

According to PNA, more than 20 secondary public and private schools in Lagos took part in the kids' art competition.