The exercise, which will cover children aged nine months to 14 years, was unveiled at a stakeholders’ sensitisation meeting organised by the Ogun State Primary Health Care Board (SPHCB) in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta on Tuesday.
The meeting brought together key partners, including media practitioners, ahead of the campaign.
Rubella, commonly known as German measles, is a contagious viral disease that often presents with mild fever and rash but can have devastating effects on unborn babies if a pregnant woman becomes infected.
Such infections may result in blindness, deafness, heart defects and other congenital abnormalities.
Speaking at the event, the Executive Secretary of the Ogun State Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Elijah Ogunsola, explained that the campaign would adopt a ward-to-ward and settlement-to-settlement strategy to ensure extensive coverage across the state.
According to him, health workers are expected to reach no fewer than 20,000 settlements, with vaccination points located close to residents’ homes to make access easy.
“We are doing ward-to-ward and settlement-to-settlement campaigns. What it means is that we will be in every settlement. However, we are not going from house to house,” Ogunsola said.
He added that central locations would be identified in each settlement where health teams would mobilise residents for vaccination, assuring that no child would need to travel far.
“The plan is that wherever you are, our team will be within 500 metres of your house, so you don’t have to go far before you get vaccination. Secondly, we are targeting schools,” he explained.
Dr. Ogunsola further clarified that the campaign would officially end on January 29, after which routine immunisation services would resume at health facilities from February 1.
“The campaign is for children from nine months to 14 years. After the campaign, we will only administer vaccination to children of nine months and 15 months. That is why we encourage parents to avail themselves of this opportunity so that everybody can be captured, because thereafter, we will not be able to handle any child.”
Also speaking, the Director of Disease Control and Immunisation, Dr Thomas Solarin, stressed the dangers posed by both diseases, particularly Rubella, which has severe consequences for unborn children.
He said “Measles and Rubella are very related. However, measles is more powerful and kills children more than Rubella.
“Measles does not affect pregnant women, Rubella does. Once a woman has Rubella, it will affect the child in her womb. When those children are born, some of them will become blind, some will be deaf. A lot of holes in the heart of a baby are because the mother had suffered Rubella.”
In his presentation, the State Health Education Officer, Alhaji Waheed Elegbede , provided alarming statistics on the disease burden in Nigeria and globally.
His words “Nigeria recorded 719 deaths from measles.Rubella burden in Nigeria is under-documented due to limited surveillance. However, seroprevalence studies indicate a high level of susceptibility in women of childbearing age.
“In 2024, the global burden of congenital Rubella syndrome continues to be a significant public health concern, with approximately 100,000 babies born with CRS.”
The health authorities urged parents, caregivers and community leaders to support the campaign by ensuring eligible children are presented for vaccination during the exercise.
