Enhancing Public Interest in Immunization
Immunization is a way of protecting a child from getting infected with Killer-Disease. Many of these ailments are spread from child to child and can cause serious health problems. They can result in disability or death. It is preventable but not curable.
Childhood immunization consist of series of injections or oral dosing of vaccines against childhood killer diseases like Diphtheria, Tetanus, Pertussis, Measles, polio, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B, and Yellow Fever.
Physicians describe vaccines preventable diseases as a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children. Children have weak immune system. The antibodies they got from their mothers is usually transient, others are malnourished.
Immunizing individual children also helps to protect the health of our community especially those children who were not immunized during the Immunization Plus Days. (IPDs). Routine Immunization therefore stands to reduce or stop disease outbreak in a community.
Vaccine-preventable diseases have disastrous economic impact, resulting from doctor’s visits, hospitalization and premature death. The public health benefits of these free vaccines immunization far outweigh their adverse effects as always claimed by some northern states of the federation.
According to Kogi State Co-ordinator, European Union Prime (E.U.Prime), Pharmacist Ocheh J.A, “all the vaccines used for routine campaign in the country have been licensed and certified okay by appropriate bodies. They are therefore safe and effective.”
Pharm. Ocheh also encourage the media executives to always educate the populace properly on the importance of the exercise and how to volunteer in communicating supplemental immunization campaigns and routine immunization outreach services.
However, the role of media towards the planning and successful implementation of most rounds of Immunization Plus Days (IPDs) is enormous.
Several enlightenment campaigns have been highlighted in both print and electronic media to acquaint the mothers and guardians on the importance of immunization in our society during the previous exercise.
The publicity of advocacy visits of Kogi State Social Mobilization Committee to stakeholders, governments, religious leaders, ministries and parastatals to seek for their moral and political support of the programme is an achievement.
Polio Eradication Milestones
It is on record that in 1988, World Health Assembly resolved to stop poliovirus transmission in 2004, containment of wild polio virus and global eradication certification in 2007 and stoppage of polio immunization in 2010.
The last immunization records shows that Kogi State has been polio-free state since January 2007. But for the fact that some neighbouring states are battling to eradicate poliovirus and wild poliovirus, Kogi cannot relax in the struggle to sustain the status.
Kogi State was exempted from the April 2008 IPDs in the country because of its previous performance in the polio eradication programme.
The just concluded round of the IPDs in the state gave the Ministry of Health, WHO, UNICEF and other Donor Agencies the opportunity to improve upon their previous plan and implementation of the exercise.
Despite the huge amount being expended and contributions of donor agencies, federal government, States, Local government and the good work plan of the world health Assembly, much could not be achieved in some areas due to some human lapses.
Such lapses include the insensitivity, lack of commitment, dedication of health workers and assumption of recorders involved in each round of the IPDs programme.
In view of the huge amount of money being spent on the procurement of vaccines, materials and payment of allowances to adhoc staff and health workers, those who are always involved in the exercise should reciprocate this good gesture of federal government and donor agencies by being committed to the exercise for the well-being of our children.

How Pollution Affects Baby’s Sex
A European study shows that environmental pollutants may affect sperm.
The study shows that men with high exposure to certain chemicals have sperm that could alter the ratio of the sexes.
The study was relatively small and didn’t flag any particular chemical to watch out for. The researchers say more work is needed and it’s not clear when any environmental influences may take effect.
The study comes from Aleksander Giwercman of Sweden’s Lund University and appears in the online edition of Human Reproduction.
POLLUTANTS MAY INFLUENCE SPERM
The Swedish study centered on persistent organochlorine pollutants (POPs). POPs are found throughout the environment, say the researchers.
POPs are related to domestic and industrial discharge, automobile exhaust, street run-off, slum sewage, and agricultural chemicals, says the journal’s news release.
In Sweden, people are typically exposed to POPs by eating contaminated fatty fish, says the study. Swedish fishermen eat on average twice as much fatty fish as the general population.
The study included 149 fishermen. Sperm and blood samples from the fishermen showed that the men with more exposure to POPs had a slightly higher proportion of sperm bearing “Y” chromosomes.
Girls are born by fertilization of an egg with an “X” chromosome-carrying sperm. Boys are born through fertilization of an egg with a Y-carrying sperm.
The researchers say their results indicate that exposure to POPs may influence sperms’ Y:X ratio but the results do not provide circumstantial evidence about the proportion of male births.
CONFLICTING REPORTS
Recent reports in many countries indicate that the proportion of male births has been declining and may be in part due to exposures to POPs, say the researchers.
One might think that that would mean a lower proportion of Y-carrying sperm of men exposed to POPs. Fewer boys, fewer Y chromosomes, in other words.
However, that’s the opposite of what was seen in the Swedish fishermen.
CHANGING THE BOY-GIRL RATIO?
The researchers say the higher Y:X ratio of chromosome-carrying sperm in the fishermen’s ejaculation didn’t necessarily translate into how many boys or girls the fishermen fathered. Many factors can affect which sperm fertilizes an egg and ultimately affect the sex ratio of a population, including the “timing of intercourse.
It’s also not clear if) the Y:X ratios of the ejaculate stay stable over time, write researchers.
Culled from Good Health

Chairperswon Takes Anti-Polio Campaign to Motor Park
Ofu Local Government Council Chairperson, Mrs. Grace Ene’ojo, has charged health officials handling the on - going Immunization Plus Days (IPDs) in the Local Government to demonstrate the spirit of fairness and fear of God, to ensure a judicious use of the vaccines and wider coverage of the programme.
Mrs. Ene’ojo, who gave the charge at Ugwolawo Motor Park in the LGA while flagging off the programme said immunization was free and called on parents and nursing mothers to avail themselves of the availability of the vaccines to improve the health of their children.
The Chairperson , who was represented at the occasion by the principal women Development Officer of the Local Government, Mrs. Juliana Isaiah Isah stressed the present Council’s commitments to programmes that would improve the health conditions of children in the Local Government and appealed to traditional rulers, religious leaders and other opinion leaders in the area to be vanguards in mobilizing children for the success of the exercise in their various localities.
In his goodwill message, the Ejeh of Ofu, Chief Adebo Peter Opaluwa, emphasized the advantages of immunization in the lives of children and appealed to the parents to embrace it for their good.
Speaking at the occasion, the state technical facilitator of the programme in the Local Government, Mrs. Ann Ameh, thanked the UNICEF, WHO, Federal and State Governments for providing the vaccines and called on the supervisors and vaccinators in the Local Government to ensure an impressive coverage.
Earlier, the Director of Primary Health Care in the Local Government, Alhaji Ndako Maiyaki, expressed gratitude to the Council Chairman, Hon. Ene’ojo Peters Omachi for his support to the success of the programme in the area..
Alhaji Maiyaki said immunization was the right of every child and enjoined parents to bring out their children from 0-5 years as from 23rd to 26th of this month to receive the vaccines against the six childhood killer diseases.
Highlight of the occasion was the administration of vaccines to the children by the representative of the Chairperson and other dignitaries.