By Ayodele Abere
The Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation in Ekiti State, Rt. Hon. Taiwo Olatunbosun, has restated that Governor Biodun Oyebanji has made healthcare delivery a major focus in transforming the state into an enviable one among the comity of states.
The Commissioner said this on Wednesday while giving his keynote address at the one-day advocacy meeting with media and other stakeholders on Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine, organized by the Ministry of Information in conjunction with UNICEF, held in Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State.
Olatunbosun who was ably represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Prince Sesan Alabi, stated that there’s an urgent need to raise awareness about the dangers of HPV for people to know that the vaccine for the virus, which is recommended for girls aged 9-14 years is safe, effective and free.
Noting that the Human Papilloma Virus is a deadly virus which according to Health specialists is the most frequent cause of cervical cancer deaths among women, the Commissioner said the development of a vaccine to combat the virus is a right step in the right direction, saying it has been observed with dismay that since the onset of the vaccine, there has been large scale misinformation as well as unsubstantiated rumours, myths and misconception circulating on the vaccine across the country.
The State spokesperson maintained that trust in the vaccine is vital and critically dependent on the ability of the media to communicate the benefits and safety of the vaccine to the good people of Ekiti State.
Olatunbosun equally said proper and correct information about the vaccine will help people to deal with internalized fear and reduce dependency on misinformation adding that media practitioners have a huge role to play in demystifying the misconceptions and rumours about the vaccine so that targeted beneficiaries can present themselves for vaccination.
The Commissioner commended the United Nations Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for being a consistent partner, friend and collaborator in ensuring the safety of the health of women and children by extension, the men domiciled in Ekiti state.
” It is very important to state here that the present administration under the leadership of our amiable Governor, Mr Biodun Abayomi is committed to the well-being and overall development of Ekiti state” Rt. Hon. Olatunbosun said.
The Social and Behaviour Change Specialist, UNICEF, Mrs Aderonke Akinola Akinwole, in a separate interview with journalists said they are also using the opportunity of the meeting to talk about other childhood vaccines which would form the basis of the Non Polio Supplemental Immunization Activities campaigns that will be done in the State by this weekend.
Highlighting the vaccines that will be given, Mrs Akinwole said the concerned personnel would be giving among others, the regular routine vaccination which is for children between the age zero to two years, the measles vaccine which is between nine months to five years, and the HPV Vaccines between nine to fourteen years.
The specialist urged everybody to be seen as promoting and advocating for the uptake of childhood vaccines so that children do not die or become deformed as a result of disease as she remarked that it takes a father and a mother to give birth to a child, but it takes a whole community to raise a child.
Part of raising the child involves ensuring that the child survives and thrives by allowing the child to get access to all vaccinations that can prevent them from coming down with vaccine preventable diseases Mrs. Akinwole said.
The State Immunization Officer from the State Primary Healthcare Development under the Ministry of Health, Mrs Omolabake Ogundola, who noted that Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) Vaccine was introduced in Ekiti State on 27th May, 2024 with the target of reaching 289,000 girls, said they still have up to 8,000 girls on the list to be reached, but said they are doing everything possible to reach all the girls that are yet to be reached adding that by next year, the vaccine would only be available for age nine children only.
Mrs Ogundola was of the opinion that the policymakers should come up with a particular policy that would enable schools to check the vaccination status of children before admitting them into school for the school to be convinced that they are protected and that they are not coming to the school to get other children infected.
However, the Officer disclosed that the Immunization Unit in her place of work is already having a tracking mechanism which makes it easier to get tracked every child that has accessed their facilities for immunization to continue the schedules without dropping out.
“We have a number of schedules for the children to be fully immunized. We don’t want them to be partially immunized”.
Mrs Ogundola therefore said, it’s important for parents and caregivers to know that it is the right of every child to be vaccinated and that they shouldn’t be deprived of the right as she emphasized that the vaccine is available for free in all the health facilities in the State.
Earlier in her welcome address, a director in Ekiti State Ministry of Information, Mrs Sola Fadiran, described the media as a fundamental pillar in raising awareness of health issues by providing information, education and promoting positive attitudes.
As part of the objectives of the meeting which is to solicit the support of the media to raise awareness on HPV Vaccine, the heads of the media houses in Ekiti have agreed to allot a particular time to the health practitioners in their various stations to enhance campaign for health related matters.