By Gloria Osemudiamhen
As part of efforts towards enhancing quality and effective healthcare service delivery in Edo State, the State Government through its Office of the First Lady has assured of collaboration with the John Snow Incorporated (JSI) to improve on the administration of routine immunization for children of age 0 to 59 months, and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination services for children aged 9 – 14 years, as part of its commitment to the well-being of children.
The Coordinator, Office of the First Lady, Mrs. Edesili Anani, assured of the State Government’s preparedness when she played host to the JSI Team at the Government House in Benin City. She reaffirmed the State Government’s commitment to improving healthcare service delivery and emphasized that Governor Monday Okpebholo’s places high premium on children’s health.
According to Mrs. Edesili, “Having you back in the State is something that we are thankful for, because we know what you have done earlier, and what you will continue to do is helping to bring access to healthcare to the people that need it the most. I always say the primary healthcare is for the local government. So, it is for the people; it goes to the very root, the rural areas, and that’s where people are able to access healthcare. And routine immunization is very key, because it’s the foundation to living healthy for everybody.
“I’m big on children being vaccinated. It’s very important to me, because sometimes you see, things that are preventable, polio, all those things are preventable and then because people are not aware or they don’t have the access, that’s why we have partners like you that help in bringing healthcare to the rural areas; to the women, to the children that need it the most. So, it’s applaudable and I’m thankful. A healthy child is a productive child, and then you have a healthy society. So, I really thank you so much.”
Stressing the need for sensitization, Mrs. Anani advocated taking it down to the grassroots to dispel the wrong ideologies being perpetrated about vaccines, saying, “A lot of people till now wouldn’t take the vaccine especially in the rural areas; they would say it’s going to affect the girl child, fertility, hormones. And they would tell you that cancer you’re trying to prevent, you will have it later. So, there’s a lot of sensitization and a lot of awareness that have to be done in that area. And I’m ready, as I’ve always said, to be a voice.”
The Country Director of JSI, Dr. Olawale Durosinmi-Etti, stated that JSI is a US-based international organization working in over 40 countries, including Nigeria.
He said the Organization supports public health programmes, including immunization, and recently helped Edo State increase COVID-19 vaccination coverage to nearly 70%. He added that the organization worked with Edo State to vaccinate hard-to-reach children, but that it has lost funding due to the US Government change of Policy, but that luckily, a new European private funder stepped in to support the project, allowing them to resume work in Edo State.
Dr. Durosinmi-Etti explained, “We started working with the states, supporting particularly zero-dose children. These are children that have never received any form of vaccination, and so most of these children are also found in very hard-to-reach localities. They are not the type that usually go to health facilities to get vaccination. So, working with the states’ teams, we work together to identify those localities where those children live, and then we support health workers to move to those localities.
“Take the vaccines there, vaccinate them, document and keep all the records, and then they go into the national data system to ensure that Edo State can continue to move forward in terms of coverage of routine vaccine in Nigeria.
And unfortunately, when the new Government in the U.S. came in January, Trump decided that those are not the kind of things they want to do, and so they terminated several projects, including that project in January, and so we had to leave the states and then go back to Abuja. Luckily for Nigeria, a new funder came up and said, yeah, we can’t allow this.”
Dr. Durosinmi-Etti disclosed that the organization is implementing a system to track and analyze data in real-time, allowing for better monitoring and decision-making. They will also provide training to vaccinators, data clerks, and conduct regular supervisions and mentoring at various levels, including state, LGA, and ward levels, to ensure effective implementation of the immunization project.
He concluded that 34 teams will be deployed in Edo State, each consisting of a vaccinator, a data manager, and a mobilizer
R-L: Coordinator, Office of the First Lady, Mrs. Edesili Anani; Country Director, JSI, Dr. Olawale Durosinmi-Etti, at a meeting in Government House Benin City.
