By Tobias Lengnan Dapam
AIDS Healthcare Foundation has initiated Vaccinate Our World’ (VOW) campaign to create awareness and ensure equity and equal access to vaccine between developed countries and developing countries.
Speaking during a media roundtable discussion in Abuja, AHF, Country Program Director Dr. Echey Ijezie, said low-income countries, especially African nations have received a mere 0.3 percent.
“AHF have been shouting and making this statement clearly through the VOW campaign that the gap has to be bridged. We will continue to push to ensure that these demands are met.”
Ijezie, called on the government to adopt public health communication strategies to make Nigerians especially rural dwellers to accept the vaccines when available.
“There is a gap that has to be bridged and that gap is between the availability of the vaccine and our own people accepting it which can be done by adopting public health Communication strategies which must be done effectively because if the vaccines are available and people are not coming forward to take it, it’s discouraging”.
On his part, General Secretary, Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), Martin Adekunle Egbanubi, opined that the disire of richest countries to protect themselves leaving vulnerable ones to perish was unacceptable, demanded an increase in production of vaccine in global South.
