Ruby Rabiu
9 February 2008
Despite the outbreak of communicable diseases across the states and government's effort to control the situation, inadequate vaccines and comments from opinon leaders mar the immunization exercise in Bauchi state.
Bauchi which recorded 24 cases of polio in 2006 is one of the states in the north east described as a high risk zone.
Efforts to eradicate the disease still suffer major set backs due to ignorance and the negative perception the indigenes have against the vaccines.
Weekly Trust gathered that some areas in Bauchi State outrightly rejected the vaccine. They also chased away the vaccinators who had braced the cold to immunize the children away.
The Director, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Bauchi State, Dr. Lawal Hadejia in charge of the North East zone told Weekly Trust that the situation has tremendously improved this last quarter due to the active participation of government.
He revealed that the greatest challenges facing health workers in the state is ignorance and misplaced perception of immunization.
According to him, some of the indigenes have linked it to fertility, western propaganda and other interpretations in spite of all the enlightenment, advocacy, community dialogue, dialogue with leaders, traditional leaders, key leaders in the community.
Dr. Lawal who said efforts have been intensified by government and health agencies because of the high rate of non-compliance in the state, lamented the problems of inaccessibility of difficult terrain and the omission of some children in the last round of immunization.
Though a lot of advocacy was done to sensitise the people, some refused to allow their children take the drugs, he said.
Some areas that recorded the highest resistance include Amar A and B, Makama, Dawaki, Triwun (Doya).
Dr. Lawal said the resistance was so pronounced in such areas because, according to him, some religious and opinion leaders were against administering vaccines.
According to him, various meetings were held with these highly respected men to educate and sensitise them about the importance of the immunization to eradicate polio, but all to no avail.
The immunization officer in Bauchi State, Malam Baba Lamido told Weekly Trust that Bauchi State is the second state in the zone apart from Borno State topping the list of state with communicable cases.
He said Bauchi has recorded cases of measles in 13 local government areas in the state, with three other local governmentt areas ravaged with polio cases but lamented that the entire state is a high-risk state.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 Daily Trust. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
