THE Igando-Ikotun LCDA, in collaboration with the Lagos State Government, has commenced a two-week mass immunisation of children and female teenagers to safeguard their health and well-being.
During the official flag-off of the campaign on Monday, October 21, 2024, the Executive Chairman of the LCDA, Comrade Akinsanya Lasisi Ayinde, said the campaign primarily focused on children aged nine to 59 months.
Akinsanya noted that this initiative was part of his commitment to protecting children from life-threatening diseases such as tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, measles, and HPV. He stressed that the campaign aimed to close the immunity gaps that had widened due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Akinsanya distributed flyers and also stressed the importance of media involvement in educating the public to ensure the campaign’s success.
He pointed out that these “zero-dose children” were at significant risk of death due to a lack of immunisation against vaccine-preventable diseases.
Akinsanya finally appealed to the media and stakeholders to help raise awareness, dispel misinformation, and promote vaccination.
He explained that zero-dose children, who were never immunised from birth, were highly vulnerable to diseases, while under-immunised children are those whose vaccinations were incomplete.
He urged parents to take advantage of the free vaccines provided at the primary health care centres to ensure their children’s health, noting that many Nigerian communities harboured misconceptions about vaccines, with some believing that because previous generations survived without them, current generations did not need them.
He warned that such beliefs were dangerous and urged for a culturally sensitive approach to dispel these myths.
“Ignorance is never an excuse. Just because someone survived without vaccines doesn’t mean another child will,” Akinsanya said.
