The Kaduna State Government and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) have intensified efforts to contain an outbreak of measles that has already claimed the lives of two children in the state.
The measles outbreak that hit Unguwan Kanawa community, Zaria Local Government Area has affected no fewer than 20 children.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the outbreak is attributed to the years of parental refusal to immunise their children, largely due to misconceptions about vaccination.
Two children from a family of nine died, and at least 20 others are infected.
However, another report suggests six children died in the outbreak.
The outbreak is linked to vaccine hesitancy among parents, with many refusing to immunise their children due to misconceptions.
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In a swift response, the state government and UNICEF are working together to strengthen disease surveillance and had launched emergency re-vaccination campaigns in Zaria.
The Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board has mobilised outreach teams to identify, track, and immunise affected households.
Health officials are working to sensitise the community about the importance of vaccination.
The Director of Disease Control and Immunisation, Hamza Ibrahim, confirmed that surveillance teams were on the ground, and vaccination teams would visit households to immunise eligible children.
According to Ibrahim, the agency has deployed different mechanisms to curtail the measles outbreak in the state.
He told NAN that the state has launched a immunisation rapid response team in the affected area of the state.
He said that officials of the agency, together with those of the State Ministry of Health and other development partners, have been in the affected community to assess the situation in the particular settlement.
Ibrahim said that the community had experienced non-compliance for the past 10 years.
He said: “Every April, we celebrate World African Immunisation Week, which is set aside to sensitise residents on the importance of immunisation.
“Unfortunately, we have an outbreak of measles in Unguwan Kanawa in Zaria.
“We have to take history and know the main cause of the non-compliance.”
The Director stated that there were 255 upgraded Primary Health Centres in the state, adding: “The community, unfortunately, has a PHC, which is 7km away from them.
“We have initiated outreach services for them so that those who cannot go to the facility will be treated and taken care of before making a referral to the facilities for treatment.”
Ibrahim also said that they have understood that the community has some issues with the facility.
He said: “This is what caused the problem and we are working on it to ensure that it is amicably resolved.
“We understood that they are even rejecting the polio vaccine and we are doing a follow up to ensure each child receives vaccinations within one year and finish the routine immunisation.”
Ibrahim said that a lot has been put in place not only in the affected community but across the state, attributing the non compliance to ignorance and neglect.
He explained: “Most of them believe that immunisation is not important because they have resorted to herbs for treatment and cure.
“The women want their children to be vaccinated but they wait to get permission from their spouses before accepting the vaccines.”
He said that they would embark on dialogue with all the community members to inform them about the importance of immunisation and the implications of not receiving it.
He said that the community members would also participate fully in all the activities of the immunisation.
Meanwhile, the UNICEF Chief of Field Office, Kaduna, Dr. Gerida Birukila, stated that the community had 100 percent refusal for vaccination three years ago.
Birukila said: “As you have observed for yourself, there is now a serious measles outbreak.
“Several children have never been immunised, and as a result, they are suffering from measles.
“In one family of nine, they have already lost two children and others are still sick.
“So, it is very important for the community to immunise their children.”
Birukila lamented that against the backdrop of vaccine shortages, they were trying to find vaccines for measles.
She said: “There is a shortage in the country, and it is really important that we secure predictable vaccination supplies for the children.
“We are facing many challenges, mainly parental refusal due to lack of belief in immunisation.”
Birukila, however, said through interventions by community and religious leaders and the government, the community has started accepting immunisation.
She said that the government was also supporting other services like health care to ensure that the community was well supported.
She appealed to parents, community, religious, traditional leaders, the government, and partners to encourage the uptake of immunisation in order to save lives.
She hoped that predictable funding for vaccination and immunisation would continue.
In a related development, Dr. Hauwa Mahmud, Head of Health, Zaria Local Government Council, has described the outbreak as a “blessing in disguise”.
She said that Unguwar Kanawa, in Dutsen Abba Ward, has a long history of rejecting vaccination and orthodox medicine.
According to Mahmud, the community had 100 percent non-compliance with vaccination for about 10 years.
She said: “UNICEF and other key stakeholders were in the community to record a success story of a woman from the community who agreed to accept vaccination.
“The event by UNICEF at Unguwar Kanawa was part of the activities to commemorate the African Vaccination Week.”
Mahmud, however, said that on reaching the community, it was discovered that there was an outbreak of measles in the area.
The head of health said that the children in the community were vaccinated and nine affected children were hospitalised.
She added of the nine hospitalised, seven of them were discharged, while two developed measles complications and they would soon be released.
She said that following the outbreak and the prompt response by the Zaria Local Government Council, the community further agreed to accept vaccination against child-killer diseases.
NAN however learnt that there was no reported case of the disease in the Kafanchan area, according to Dr. Paul Yohanna, the Chief Medical Director, Patrick Yakowa General Hospital, Kafanchan.
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