The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) is to partner with the media to ensure effective advocacy ahead of the 2024 supplementary immunisation.

This is contained in a communiqué issued on Tuesday at the end of a media orientation workshop for the 2024 integrated Supplementary Immunisation Activities (SIAs) meeting held in Abuja.

Representatives of print and electronic media and the NPHCDA co-signed the communiqué.

The media orientation workshop was also carried out for them to identify the roles and responsibilities of the media in ensuring the success of the 2024 SIAs programme.

The 2024 integrated SIAs will be held in 26 selected states: Anambra, Enugu, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti, Ogun, and Ondo.

Others are Osun, Oyo, Benue, FCT, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Adamawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Jigawa, Zamfara, Yobe and Borno.

Participants emphasised the importance of advocacy, effective information dissemination, and adequate support for the campaign strategy.

They recommended that the focus of NPHCDA should be the timely and accurate dissemination of information to support communication and mobilisation of all expected groups for the vaccination.

Participants urged the agency to provide adequate personnel for the campaigns and support training and capacity building for relevant stakeholders.

The media representatives, on their part, reiterated their commitment to supporting the success of integrated SIA efforts.

“We commit to effective amplification of messages on vaccination importance and dissemination of accurate information to address issues of vaccine resistance and misinformation,” the communiqué reads.

The parties recognised the critical role of vaccination in preventing and controlling vaccine-preventable diseases.

The director of advocacy and communications of NPHCDA, Ladan Aliyu, said 2024 integrated SIAs objectives include achieving 95 per cent vaccination coverage for measles and polio, 80 per cent coverage for yellow fever, and 85 per cent coverage of zero-dose children in targeted LGAs.

He said there would be vaccines for yellow fever, measles/polio, tetanus and diphtheria (TD), and human papillomavirus, among others.

The director said the NPHCDA was aware of the activities of anti-immunisation campaigners but noted that they factored the said challenge in their planning stage so as to mitigate it.

“We have what we call a crisis communication plan for addressing issues at both national and sub-national levels, depending on the peculiarity of the case.

“The crisis communication plan is being implemented by experts; they are dispelling and quelling some of these rumours that stop people from being immunised.

“Bringing in traditional and religious leaders who are close to every community to carry out this campaign is also part of our strategy to dispel some of the rumours carried out by anti-immunisation campaigners,” he said.

Mr Aliyu said the integrated SIAs campaign would commence in September and appreciated the media’s continued support in ensuring the population receives accurate information.

(NAN)