The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), vaccine-preventable diseases are still present in the country.
Dr. Ifedayo Adetifa, Director General of the NCDC, stated this during an interview on Channels Television on Sunday, where he discussed the agency’s plans to address the issue.
Nigeria, he claims, is paying the price for low vaccination rates for a variety of vaccine-preventable diseases.
This is due to a variety of factors, including citizens’ reluctance to make them available, particularly in semi-urban and rural areas.
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The NCDC director stated that diseases such as yellow fever, cholera, and meningitis continue to wreak havoc on human health in the country because vaccination momentum has been disrupted by the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, and that health agencies are resuming awareness campaigns.
“We have had historical challenges with vaccination coverage just as the country seems to be gaining some momentum with concurrent efforts to strengthen routine immunization and then conduct mass campaigns in response to areas to we know that are under covered,” Adetifa said.
“Of course with COVID, people were afraid of going to the hospital.
“There were disruptions to immunization – both routine and planned campaigns.
“What now we are seeing is that we are now paying the price for the gaps that occurred then.
“What we are keeping our eyes on at the NCDC is not what the headlines reflect.”
Speaking about the country’s cholera outbreak, Adetifa stated that the agency is “expecting an optic as the rains become established.
“Unfortunately, we are already preparing for meningitis and the next Lassa Fever outbreak in November.”
He added that the NCDC is also taking precautions to contain Omicron and COVID-19 ahead of the holiday season.
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