The news that Nigeria has run out of vaccines for four child-killer diseases calls for concern. These child-killer diseases are yellow fever, measles, hepatitis B and Chalmette-Guerin. These diseases contribute greatly to the death of children under the age of five in Nigeria. It is interesting to note that Nigeria and India top the list of countries with the highest infant mortality in the world.
Oyewole Tomori, professor of virology and infectious diseases, told the media that in 2012, Nigeria lost 126 of the 11,012 children that suffered from measles, whereas in 2013, 348 of the 57,892 children that contracted the disease did not survive.The reported cases of measles in the two years under review has shown more than 500 per cent increase in the number of measles cases in just one year. The 2013 figure is obviously the highest in the last six years.
Tomori, who is also president of the Nigerian Academy of Science, said there were stock-out of the BCG, yellow fever and hepatitis B vaccines at various times last year.He added that the stock of yellow fever vaccines had exhausted since 2013, while frantic efforts are being made to procure new ones because the current stock would be completely depleted by March/April 2014. His regret is that with the 2014 budget yet to be passed by the National Assembly fund may not be released on time to procure vaccines needed for the rest of the year.
Information from the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, the federal government agency responsible for the monitoring of the administration and procurement of vaccines, reveals that in the immunization schedule of last year, Nigeria ran out of the DTP and measles vaccines. Statistics for 2014 has shown that the country is already having a shortage of polio, hepatitis B and polo vaccines.
The problem can be attributed to government’s dependence on funds from donor agencies, lack of data and inadequate investment, among other reasons. International donors such as Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the World Health (WHO) commit more money and resources for the vaccination of Nigerian children than the Nigerian government.
The practice of waiting for WHO, UNICEF, Bill and Melinda Gates, Rotary Club and other donors to take the lead in the elimination of polio, measles, hepatitis B, Calmette-Guerin, and other child killer diseases does not speak well of us.These non-governmental organizations may mean well for the good of mankind, over-reliance on them to kick-start the process by bringing out their money before we make effort is a dereliction of duty and is unacceptable.
Vaccine has been defined as biological preparation that improves immunity to a particular disease.Its recurrent stock-out increases the likelihood of infant mortality and morbidity. The non-vaccination could make babies vulnerable to infection and indeed other killer diseases which they would be able to resist if they are vaccinated at the right time. Stock-out of vaccines reveals improper planning, lack of data and poor logistics. Government must know the number of children born every year, so that it can make a proper budgetary provision for vaccination.
As things stand now babies have no defence against any disease. If a baby contracts an infection, it will spread to other children in the vicinity; it may also spread from one city to another or from city to village or vice versa. This can result in a great number of casualties depending on the number of children exposed to the outbreaks. We, therefore, call on the federal government to take urgent steps to make vaccines available to avert the looming danger.
