Executive Director for Africa Centre for Health Policy, Dr Thomas Anaba, has revealed that the shortage of polio vaccines in the country is likely to cause panic among mothers and parents alike.

According to him, the situation is worrying considering the fact that government could have avoided the current lack of vaccines at the various health facilities in the country. He indicated that government could have done due diligence to stockpile the vaccines for babies.

“I think this lack is going to cause panic in mothers and parents simply because we all know the consequences of polio. Having to give birth to a child and just because of common vaccines that are supposed to be around, the child doesn’t get it [and] contracts polio and becomes physically disabled and becomes a burden to the family. So, definitely, this is what the absence of the vaccine is causing.”
Dr Thomas Anaba

Dr Anaba noted that if government is trying to change its sourcing point, it should have pre-empted the shortage in the country and planned ahead of time before the current stock got finished. He explained that this situation is bringing “untold hardships and anger from parents who are not getting the vaccines to vaccinate their children”.

“I don’t know why the government sits and waits for the stock to get finished before they plan to look for a new site to procure. If you haven’t changed all the needed procurement processes to procure your vaccines from the new site, why do you stop buying from the old site?… Let’s all remember that polio is transmitted through contaminated water [and] food, and contact through people can cause it to be transmitted.”
Dr Thomas Anaba

Impact of vaccine shortage in the country

The Executive Director for Africa Centre for Health Policy expressed that due to the raining season the country currently finds itself in, it predisposes children to environmental polio. He stated that even though it’s not the “wild type”, people can easily contract it as a result of water contamination and because they don’t use sterile water to wash bowls and other things.

“Luckily, children are lactating but sometimes mothers, they mingle with others and they can easily get contaminated and contract the virus… By the time you say the vaccine is in, the child has [contracted] the illness already… We have to be worried.”
Dr Thomas Anaba

Dr Anaba revealed that forecast and planning were not properly done by government and if they were well done, there should have been a “replacement of acquisition with the current provider long before the consignment gets finished”. He lamented that for two months, government is not getting polio vaccines for “our kids to protect them against a preventive illness”.

In the interim, Dr Anaba advised mothers to be cautious in ensuring their children do not contract the virus. He advised them to steer clear off contaminated water in their activities.

“What I will tell parents is that, at least let’s try to make sure we stay away from contaminated waters, we make sure we boil water, if you are bathing the children [and] if you don’t have pure water , boil the water and let it cool down before using it to bath them. Don’t use any water that has a risk of being contaminated to bath your kids…”
Dr Thomas Anaba