World Immunization Day is a day to celebrate the prevention of death and disease through immunization. Immunization is a process whereby people are protected against illness caused by infection and disease that can be passed from one person to another with the aid of microorganisms. Immunization fortifies an individual immune system against an agent known as the immunogen.

When the vaccine enter the body, the body reacts as if the disease-causing microbes are in the system but the host does not fall sick. The body produces antibodies in excess that will not only destroy the disease causing microbes but also prevents any of the given disease organisms from developing in case the host come in contact with it. The process is done through vaccination.

History of Immunization

Prior to the emergence of vaccination, people only became immune to diseases after contracting them. For instance, smallpox was first eradicated using this method. In reference to Chinese author Wan Quan (1499-1582) in his Douzhen xinfa “In China, powdered smallpox scabs were blown up the noses of the healthy. The patients would then develop a mild case of the disease and from then on were immune to it. The technique did have a 0.52.0% mortality rate, but that was considerably less than the 2030% mortality rate of the disease itself” the above became the first veritable source in the journey of immunization.

Immunization and Children Around the World

Diachronically, immunizing children against preventable diseases is not a new technique in the world. Richard Conniff narrated his personal story in National Geographical website that “Like most American children of my generation, I lined up with my classmates in the mid-1950s to get the first vaccine for polio, then causing 15,000 cases of paralysis and 1,900 deaths a year in the United States, mostly in children. Likewise, we lined up for the vaccine against smallpox, then still causing millions of deaths worldwide each year”.

The above shows that the fight against children mortality did not began yesterday and it does not handpicked between the developed or the developing nation; it is a universal struggle. However, most of the developed nations have been able to put in place the effective practices and measures that have ensured that reasonable amount of children have been vaccinated against these preventable death diseases. In the data of National Centre for Health Statistics under the Centre For Disease Control and Prevention, the Percentage of children vaccinated by age 24 months in US are:

• Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis (4+ doses DTP, DT, or DTaP): 80.7%
• Polio (3+ doses): 92.6%
• Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR) (1+ doses): 90.8%
• Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) (primary series + booster dose): 79.6%
• Hepatitis B (Hep B) (3+ doses): 90.6%
• Chickenpox (Varicella) (1+ doses): 90.2%
• Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) (4+ doses): 81.0%

World Immunization Day in Africa

Contrastively, despite the availability of appropriate vaccines for routine use on infants that can prevent the diseases, preventable death diseases are still the causes of abysmal rates of morbidity and mortality in Africa. In a research carried out by Obanewa and Newell (2020) they opine that Vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) constitute major causes of morbidity and mortality in Africa. More than 10 million children younger than 5 years continue to die annually. Also about 95 percent of the estimated 14 million deaths of children below 5 years of age worldwide occur in developing countries; approximately 70 percent of these deaths are due to vaccine-preventable diseases.

World Immunization Day in Nigeria

Evidently, Nigeria is the Africa’s s largest under age 1 year population, but has one of the lowest immunization coverage; about 20% of the worlds children under 1 year of age with incomplete DPT vaccination in 2017 lived in Nigeria (Feldstein LR, Mariat S, Gacic-Dobo M, Diallo MS, Conklin LM, Wallace AS. Global routine vaccination coverage, 2016) and (World Bank: Nigeria Data).

In a document prepared by UNICEF titled “Maternal and Newborn Health Disparities in Nigeria In 2015, 7,100,000 babies were born in Nigeria, or around 19,500 every day. Among young women (aged 20-24), 29 percent gave birth by age 18.2. Approximately 660 babies will die each day before reaching their first month which is a considerable amount of numbers.

Geographically, Nigeria is divided into six geopolitical zones and these zones have different percentages of immunization records. In the final report of Nigeria Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2016-17, the Percentage of children age 12-23 months currently vaccinated against seven preventable childhood diseases in Nigeria 2016-17 shows that the South Western part of the country has the highest percentage with 50.2% of children completed the cycle and the lowest was recorded in the North Western part of the country with 8.5% children.

Also, eleven Northern states performed below the national estimate on full vaccination coverage. The states are; Jigawa (1.8 percent), Sokoto (2.2 percent), Kebbi (4.8 percent), Zamfara (4.9 percent), Katsina (5.9 percent), Yobe (6.5 percent), Kano (9.5 percent), Taraba (11.5 percent), Niger (13.8 percent), Bauchi (13.9percent) and Gombe (16.7 percent).

The Societal Factors Associated with Low Immunization

There are many societal factors associated with low immunization around the world. Two important set of factors include maternal education and residential factors.

Maternal Education

Different studies have proven that the maternal education determines the rate at which children are immunised in Nigeria and other sub-saharan Africa. Perhaps, this is why UNICEF makes use of this expression “The better educated the mother is, the more likely she will receive critical maternal health services the services that will prevent child mortality and morbidity in Africa at large. According to UNICEF statistics, only 12 percent of mothers with no education had a skilled attendant at birth, compared to 44 percent with primary education and 93 percent for mothers with higher education.

Residential Factors

Statistics have shown that nursing mothers in rural areas have low immunization records. It seems that the connection between the nursing mother and the hospital is the delivery of babies. Once that is done, they usually forget about post natal care which also involves taking the child for immunization. UNICEF’s statistics has shown that 8 percent of newborns in rural areas receive postnatal care (PNC), compared to 25 percent in urban areas.

The Societal Solution to the problems

Firstly, girl child education should be encouraged. This will go a long way to increase high rate of immunization because educated girls will grow up to become educated mothers. According to UNICEF about 60% of out-of-school children are girls. Many of those who do enroll drop out very early.

Secondly, government should increase the sensitization programmes that will reach the nooks and crannies of the country on the importance and benefits of immunization.

Lastly, primary health care centers and maternity clinics should be equipped with adequate facilities and provisions that will allow easy and good vaccinations since the duo are the closest medical facilities that are closest to the rural areas.

What is the Social Construction of Health and Illness?

Sources Related to World Immunization Day

Feldstein LR, Mariat S, Gacic-Dobo M, Diallo MS, Conklin LM, Wallace AS. Global routine vaccination coverage, (2016). MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2017;66 (45):12525.

Olayinka Aderopo Obanewa and Marie Louise Newell (2020). The role of place of residency in childhood immunisation coverage in Nigeria: analysis of data from three DHS rounds 20032013.

The Final Report of Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2016-17 May, 2018. Maternal and Newborn Health Disparities in Nigeria UNICEF 2017.

World Bank: Nigeria Data [http://data.worldbank.org/country/nigeria]. Accessed 14 Aug 2018.