By: Aisha Mohammed
A cross-section of parents in Adamawa State have affirmed that vaccines are instrumental in significantly reducing under-five mortality rates from vaccine-preventable diseases.
This comes as the Adamawa State Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund UNICEF Bauchi Field Office, flagged off the Polio Vaccination Campaign targeting over 1.4 million children under the age of five.
A total of 1,443,300 doses of the polio vaccine have been allocated, focusing on high-risk areas across the state.
A father of five, Abdullahi Suleiman, and a mother of a three-week-old baby, Fatima Mohammed, both residents of Wauro Jebbe, informed the vaccine compliance monitoring team in Yola that vaccines are a safe and effective way to protect children’s health and well-being.
They added that the sensitization efforts by key stakeholders and community members on vaccine safety have helped increase vaccine uptake, particularly in Wauro Jebbe and across Adamawa State.
“I have five children and all of them have been vaccinated, I have seen children being vaccinated ever since and nothing has happened to them and it has not caused anything negative to them, Suleiman said “.
“because of the well-being of my child, Fatima said”.
Explaining the challenges faced in addressing myths and misconceptions about vaccines, Mai Jimillan of Kofare/Wauro Jebbe, Alhaji Bashiru Ahmadu Pullo, and the Facility Manager of the area, Sadiq Musa, said it took a series of engagements with community members, traditional, and religious leaders to achieve the success recorded in improving vaccine compliance in the area.
“some diseases outbreak spread like wildfire that is why we got involved, and if anyone refuses to vaccinate their children I order the person to leave my domain, Pullo said”.
“due to how they understand it, like a taboos and a local belief that if your child have been immunized she will not give birth, God so kind with our health education, community dialogue, before now we are also getting non-compliance. We do resolve them with community leaders, wards heads and the other religious leaders, Musa, said “.
They called on other stakeholders to adopt similar strategies to address myths, misconceptions, and non-compliance in other areas.
The polio vaccination exercise, flagged off on April 26 and scheduled to run until April 29, 2025, aims to cover all 226 political wards in Adamawa State, targeting children aged 0–59 months.
The exercise coincides with the African Vaccination Week.
The vaccine monitoring team, comprising electronic and print media platforms, visited selected Primary Healthcare Facilities in Adamawa State with support from the UNICEF Bauchi Field Office.
