The Kuje Area Council Primary Health Care Coordinator, Haruna Agwai says some parents are preventing their children from receiving measles vaccination in the ongoing immunization programme. According to News Agency of Nigeria, the rejection of the vaccine was prevalent at Gaube, Pegi and Chibiri wards. Speaking with NAN, Agwai said
“Some families have the fear and believe that there are plans to reduce population as their reason for preventing their children from receiving the vaccine. While some schools do not grant access to health workers to vaccinate children without the presence of their parents.
“When we encounter such cases, we normally educate them on the importance of getting their children immunised and if they disagree, we move on,” he added
He explained that the rejection was borne out of ignorance as claims that the vaccine was targeted at controlling population explosion were wrong.
“Some parents are rejecting the vaccine out of ignorance and it is essentially meant to eradicate measles. This is not a vaccine to reduce the number of population in the society but to eradicate measles among children. The vaccine will help in eradicating measles from the society."
He appealed to traditional rulers and other stakeholders to intervene by explaining the imperative of the vaccines to their people.
