A public health physician, Dr Anire Chima-Oduko has urged the government and stakeholders in various communities to promote vaccine confidence and uptake among the people for the prevention of pneumonia and other vaccines preventable diseases.
She stated that without some level of confidence, people will be hesitant to receive vaccines both for themselves and their children.
Dr Chima-Oduko who also doubles as the Executive Director of Healthy Pink Initiative gave the charge at a stakeholders’ meeting with the CDCs, community and religious leaders held in Lagos to commemorate the 2024 World Pneumonia Day.
This year’s event was themed, “Promotion of vaccine confidence”
In her remarks, she urged parents and guardians to disregard the false information being peddled by critics of vaccines noting that vaccines are safe and healthy for the children.
She said, “The World Pneumonia Day is a day set aside to put spotlight on pneumonia and ways we can prevent it. As we are aware, pneumonia is one of the deadliest killer diseases in children under 5 years. One of the ways we can prevent pneumonia is through vaccination. There are vaccines we can take to prevent pneumonia. It is preventable disease Apart from Pneumonia; there are over 20 vaccines preventable diseases. So it is very important that children under 5 years old get vaccinated not just for Pneumonia but for all vaccines preventable diseases.
“We decided to convene the stakeholders’ meeting in the community for them to encourage and influence their people of the community to get vaccinated. We observe a lot of vaccine hesitation. We want to correct that and that is why we call this stakeholders’ meeting. We want them to take this message back to their community that vaccines are not deadly but they are healthy, safe and good for the children. Our aim is to improve vaccine confidence in the people.
“In all honesty, vaccines don’t have significant side effects. It is not injurious to the health of the children. False information about vaccines is spread by people with ulterior motives. Falsehood about vaccines is spread by people that have something to gain. They campaign against vaccines. You hardly see people that take vaccines and something negative happened.”
The Assistant Immunization Program Coordinator in Lagos State, Dr. Adeniyi Adebayo said the Lagos State Government is committed to ensuring a healthier and safer Lagos.
He said, “We are gathered here today to commemorate the World Pneumonia Day and also to enlighten the people about the role of vaccination in ensuring a healthy and safer Lagos. Vaccines basically are what have been introduced to every community. Vaccination is going on and sponsored by the Lagos State government to ensure that the citizens are safe.
We have vaccines in all PHCs and government health institutions across the state. We are encouraging the people to get vaccinated because we are seeing a lot of hesitation as a result of misinformation within the community. We are using this opportunity to sensitise the people to know that vaccines are safe for them and that vaccines have been the bedrock driving our health in the society. So it should be taken seriously to ensure a healthy community.
The Lagos State Government has put a lot of resources and policies to ensure that children under the age of 5 are safe and healthy. Pneumonia is one of the killer diseases in children. When it comes to pneumonia, prevention is better than cure. They are caused by bacteria. They can also be caused by fungi and viruses.
We must ensure that our environment is clean and safe for habitation. We must also ensure we get vaccinated to prevent children coming down with pneumonia and other diseases.”
Adeniyi appealed to parents to ensure a clean and safe environment so as not to spread this disease, adding that, “They should also visit government hospitals to get vaccinated and in case any of their children present with symptoms of disease, they should visit any of the government hospitals for medical care.”
Director, medical services, Lagos State Health District 111 and Medical Health Officer, Eti-Osa LG, Dr Adenike Oguntuwase emphasised the importance of relevant knowledge about vaccine.
She said, “Getting relevant knowledge about the vaccine is very important. We are fully covered in Eti-Osa for immunization. The immunization is for children under five years of age. The vaccine is free of charge but we must take consent before it is administered. It is against the policy of the Lagos State government and the national policy on immunization. You cannot give a minor a vaccine with getting the consent of the parents. We ensure we go all out to look for people and get them vaccinated. Within Eti-Osa, our children are protected from organism. They can’t come down easily with pneumonia. I want you to encourage everyone within your community to bring those children to the PHC to get protected against childhood killer diseases.”
