There is no specific treatment for measles and most people recover within two to three weeks. However, particularly in malnourished children and people with reduced immunity; measles can cause serious complications, including blindness, encephalitis, severe diarrhoea, ear infection, pneumonia and death. The United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF) stated that measles killed 112 Nigerian children in 2015 and Dr Emmanuel Idoko from UNICEF said the worry is that there were 22, 567 suspected cases across the 36 states of the federation and Abuja in 2015.

Confirming that figure, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) at the kick-off of the 2015 Annual Physicians’ Week said the record exposed that escapable childhood maladies like measles remains one of the primary causes of death among Nigerian children with 2013 alone, recording 145, 700 measles deaths globally and about 400 deaths every day or 16 deaths every hour. To fight and win this battle, stakeholders in the health sector believe that the same method used in combating polio in should be used, but the question is: what are the modalities that have been put in place in ensuring that Nigerians defeat polio successfully?

WHO stated that the eradication of polio virus in Nigeria is the result of a concerted effort by all levels of government, civil society, religious leaders and tens of thousands of dedicated health workers. Nigeria saw the effort to keep the virus at bay as its responsibility by ensuring that whether financial aid comes from donor agencies or not, the feat achieved would not be lost to bureaucracy and the perennial excuse of lack of funds that form the pretext for not sustaining a set objective. Stakeholders can be said to have observed how the federal government and the 36 states joined hands in allocating enough funds to fight the scourge. Integrated immunization was embarked on by ensuring that the vaccines got to all areas in the country.

Regional director for Africa, Dr Matshidiso Moet, while encouraging Nigeria to continue in the good work already put in place, said the federal and state governments were able to meet the financial commitments to sustain the momentum at polio eradication efforts. Also, the efforts made by Non-Governmental Organizations in fighting the scourge cannot be underestimated. Institutions like Dangote foundation, Rotary International who donated the sum of $6.9 million to Nigeria, Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) also contributed in fighting the disease in Nigeria, UNICEF, WHO, the United State centres for Disease Control, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other group have also contributed immensely in the fight against polio in Nigeria.

Kudos also goes to civil society, religious leaders and other stakeholders who transversed all the nooks and crannies of the country repeatedly to immunise more than 45 million children under the age of five and to check the spread of polio. All hands were on desk in the fight against polio. The same can be done with measles and other preventable vaccine diseases. The National Surveillance Officer, WHO, Dr Irene Isibor said to successfully fight measles and other VPDs to a standstill, three key steps is needed which are: closing the immunisation gap, integrating immunisation with other services such as post-natal care for mothers and babies and strengthening of the health system to accommodate all categories, especially during crisis with regards to assuring that everyone can access vaccines and afford to pay for them.

To the Nigerian Medical Association, they said, “To fight this scourge and other such health conditions, there is need for immediate declaration of national emergency in the health sector; and put all machinery in place towards eradicating the negative health situation from the country. “President Muhammadu Buhari also pledged to keep up the momentum and also improve on the country’s surveillance system. Government at all level should also continue to allocate a substantial amount of money yearly in the fight against all the VPDs provide unrestricted running water to the people, ensure hygienic human waste disposal, among other important actions. We also urge institutions to continue in the fight VPDs to do everything they did right, which helped in the achievement of the success story of polio.

Chair of the trustees, Health Reform Foundation of Nigeria (HERFON), Dr Ben Anyene in an interview with Leadership correspondent, also advised the government to have ownership of immunization of its children 100 per cent without international donors.

Source: Leadership Online