3 Importance of immunization in Nigeria are listed and explained herein. This is to point to the reasons immunization should not be avoided.

Importance of immunization

Immunization is a preventative measure taken mostly by children and in some cases, by adults against infectious diseases that have no remedy.

The body responsible for immunization in Nigeria is the National Programme on Immunization (NPI) which has had years of success stories with immunizing children between 0 – 2 years, until recently when it began to suffer an impediment in its activities due to ethnicity and rigid religious beliefs among Nigerians.

The goal is to reduce, if not eliminate mortality in Nigerian children which in the past resulted from polio, whooping cough, measles, yellow fever, diphtheria, and tuberculosis.

Immunization is done in both private and government-owned hospitals. While you have to pay a lot more for you or your child to be immunized in private hospitals, all the compulsory immunizations such as BCG (Bacilli Calmette Guerin), OPV (Oral Polio Vaccine), DTP (Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus), hepatitis- B, vitamin A, and others are given for free while the others which are optional are charged at a fair and affordable price.

Even though there are some risks and side effects involved in immunization such as fever, it is nothing close to the advantage and benefits it brings.

Therefore this article will expound on the importance of immunization in Nigeria and let you in on why your doctors often recommend and in fact, insist you and your kids get immunized.

Importance of immunization in Nigeria

The following are the Importance of immunization in Nigeria:

1. For reduced child mortality

At birth and in the years that follow, a child’s body system is just getting adjusted to the environment and is more likely to contract more diseases.

Some of these diseases are polio, whooping cough, measles, yellow fever, diphtheria, and tuberculosis. Colostrum (i.e, the first breast milk produced by a woman right after childbirth) is not enough to protect a child from these infectious diseases which have been known for killing a lot of children.

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2. To increase immunity

Vaccines administered during immunization make the antibodies responsible for fighting certain diseases to be active and defend the body system in the event of an attack from the pathogens responsible for causing the diseases a person who is immunized against.

A more compact way to put this is to say that, the immunity of the immunized person has been increased.

It is important to know that the diseases a person gets immunized against may be such that can cause morbidity, as in the case of polio, and not always result in death like smallpox and whooping cough.

3. To make aging a lot easier

As a person advances in age, his or her immunity begins to drop and some of the sicknesses the body could get over in no time could become an issue.

People at 65 years of age and above are often advised to take the pneumococcal vaccine to fight against the pneumococcal organism which causes pneumonia, blood infection, and meningitis.

Oldies with more health problems like cancer, diabetes, and hypertension will be required to take more vaccines.

3 Importance of Immunization in Nigeria

Importance of immunization