The strengthening of existing multisectoral coordination platforms, boosting antenatal care (ANC) attendance, and improving institutional delivery services have been identified as major catalysts to achieving immunization success in Nigeria.
This was part of the key recommendations by the Senior Monitoring and Evaluation Officer AFENET, Mr Adam Attahiru, during the Zero Dose Learning Hub (ZDLH) Peer Learning and Exchange Retreat held in Abuja.
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Mr. Attahiru emphasized that targeted interventions aimed at engaging heads of households to give consent for childhood vaccination, improving the quality of care to build trust in healthcare workers, and scaling the ZDROP to other zero-dose Local Government Areas (LGAs) would yield significant positive results.
“Implement targeted, optimised outreach within a 2km radius from health facilities during mop-ups in identified high-risk wards, and harmonise ACSM activities to boost vaccine confidence,”
The M&E officer highlighted some persistent challenges affecting immunisation monitoring in Kano, Bauchi, Borno, and Sokoto states, including:
Inability to track the vaccination of referred, identified zero-dose children.
Inconsistencies in the master lists of settlements provided for immunisation activities.
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Also speaking at the retreat, the Founder of SIDES, Dr. Sufi Musa Abdullahi, stressed that reaching zero-dose children goes beyond just delivering vaccines; it requires strategic communication and advocacy.
“Advocacy drives action, communication shapes behaviour,”
He called for efforts to engage, inform, and inspire youths, caregivers, communities, and leaders to support immunisation activities.
In a paper titled “Enhancing Writing and Communication Skills for Our News Stories”, Editor of Health Reporters, Haruna Gimba Yaya emphasised the importance of accuracy, clarity, objectivity, timeliness, and relevance in health news reporting.
He encouraged participants to adopt the pyramid style of news writing, with the lead containing the 5Ws and H (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How), supported by quotes and details in the body, and background information at the end.
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Paradigm News reports that the ZDLH Peer Learning and Exchange Retreat was organised by AHBN and AFENET, funded by GAVI.