Delegations from Guinea and South Sudan are visiting Nigeria to learn from the country’s vaccination programme. The learning focus is on pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV) and rotavirus vaccines for childhood immunization.
The four-day peer-learning and capacity-building workshop titled “Promoting Rotavirus Vaccines and PCV to Strengthen Childhood Immunization and Safety” will be hosted by the Vaccine Network for Disease Control (VNDC) in Abuja.
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 215,000 children die each year from rotavirus-related diarrheal diseases, with the majority of deaths occurring in low-income countries such as Guinea, Chad, Somalia and South Sudan. We estimate that it is. The introduction of PCV and rotavirus vaccines is considered an important intervention to reduce child mortality from pneumonia and rotavirus, the two leading causes of preventable child death.
The peer learning program aims to foster knowledge sharing and cooperation with Nigeria, Guinea and South Sudan. Nigeria’s vaccine program is being used as a model to help these countries introduce and scale up PCV and rotavirus vaccines into their national immunization schedules.
According to the VNDC, Nigeria has successfully introduced both the PCV and rotavirus vaccines into the national immunization schedule. CSOs from these countries will work with Nigeria’s CSOs to develop a comprehensive strategy for vaccine introduction, advocacy and scale-up, drawing on Nigeria’s challenges and successes.
Abdoulaye Genab Camara, CEO of Réseau Afrique Jeunesse de Guinée (RAJ-GUI) and program manager of the Guinea-African Youth Network RASGI, says that despite the availability of highly effective treatments, He emphasized that meningitis and diarrhea are the main causes of child deaths in Guinea. vaccine. He accused Guinea of being one of the few countries whose routine immunization schedules do not yet include PCV and rotavirus vaccines.
He said he is currently in Nigeria with other Guinean NGOs and partner organizations, working with Nigerian partners to develop an advocacy strategy for the introduction of PCV and rotavirus vaccines in Guinea. .
The goal of their advocacy efforts is to advance the introduction of these vaccines in Guinea. Mr. Camara said the delegation will engage with key stakeholders in Guinea, including Guinean health and government authorities, to learn from the experience of Nigerian partners and facilitate the integration of these critical vaccines into the country’s health system. He said he also aims to organize advocacy sessions and meetings.
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Chika Ofor, CEO of VNDC, emphasized the importance of this partnership, saying, “Sister countries Guinea and South Sudan are considering introducing rotavirus and PCV vaccines.” Nigeria has done this successfully and we are here to share how it was achieved, the strategies that have worked and the role CSOs can play in supporting government efforts. ”
Mr Ofor further explained that the workshop will examine the challenges faced by Nigeria and its successes during the vaccine rollout so that Guinea and South Sudan can build on these achievements and avoid the pitfalls encountered by Nigeria.
“Guinea and South Sudan have not officially introduced the rotavirus vaccine, but Nigeria has. And we have done it successfully, so when we introduced these two vaccines and vaccines in general, Let’s look at the challenges faced by Nigeria.
“We’re also going to look back at our successes and build on those successes and stop doing what we didn’t do well, so that by the time Guinea and South Sudan do it, they can do it too. ‘We will measure our successes and eliminate those that are not successful,’ she said.
