Nigeria has received 10,000 doses of the Mpox vaccine, but none for children under 18.
surge in Africa , with 35,525 cases and 996 deaths reported as of 8 October in 14 countries, including Nigeria , PREMIUM TIMES sat down with Eduardo Celades, the Chief of Public Health for Nigeria , to discuss the Mpox outbreak, its impact on children, vaccine hesitancy, other major health concerns, and the Nigeria n health sector.
We believe that the allocation of vaccines should be based on equity. They are to be deployed to the places where we need them more. The Mpox vaccines that we have are evolved vaccines from the vaccines used for smallpox. It is part of the same family of viruses as smallpox - a more severe disease that has been eradicated.: There is no specific treatment for Mpox. What is available is support treatment.
Mpox symptoms are very common. So, normally, when one has Mpox, you will have a fever, a headache, and pain in your joints, but as well, you will have a rash. The rash can be very painful. It starts in the face and goes to your hands and your legs. But many diseases trigger these symptoms, such as measles, scabies, chicken pox, and even bacterial skin infections.
PT: An investigation recently showed an increasing prevalence of drug-resistant malaria infections in parts of Africa and Asia. What are the best strategies to prevent the spread of this disease in Nigeria, particularly in light of the country's high malaria burden?: Malaria is a big concern in Nigeria. One out of four cases of malaria in the world happen in Nigeria, and almost one out of three of the malaria deaths in the world are here in Nigeria.
I don't know of a case yet but when those cases begin to arise, if they haven't started, the first frontline centres would be primary healthcare centres, and that's our main focus. We hope, as well, that with these new investments in data and new surveys, we will be able to have that. A new survey is going to be published very soon that hopefully will have this information. Then, to be able to reduce maternal mortality, you need to do two things.
What we are happy to say is that we believe that the government is taking the appropriate steps to try to have a comprehensive plan to reduce maternal mortality in the country. We know that there are different interventions that work. For example, expanding the number of health facilities that can provide comprehensive obstetric and neonatal services, as well as, for example, micronutrient supplementation for pregnant women to reduce anaemia and training on how to conduct a safe delivery.
Let's say if a child doesn't have any vaccine, it's unlikely as well that the child has access to water or to, sanitation or eventually to education or social protection programmes. Zero-dose children is an issue. The other challenge is how to expand the coverage of services. How to expand the coverage of maternal care, how to expand the coverage of immunisation, the coverage of nutrition programmes, et cetera.
However, the issue of access still exists, and this is the case in many rural, semi-urban, and slum areas.: UNICEF believes in the role of communities in public health. At this moment, we have a network of more than 16,000 community mobilisers, most of them women working at community level to help with line listing of all the new births and help with messages about vaccination and about polio.
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