CULTURAL BELIEF AND IMMUNIZATION IN BIRNIN KEBBI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA KEBBI STATE NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
- Background to the Study
Generally speaking, immunization is not newly introduced in this world. This is because it was shown in history that our forefathers have their own traditional ways of immunizing themselves and their families, through the use of leaves of trees, minerals vegetable and armlet. But nowadays due to the existence and establishment of new modern health care facilities that immunization becomes modernized.
The concept of immunization or how to artificially induce the body to resist infection, received a big boost in 1796 when Edward Jenner the first world’s vaccinator, inoculated a young boy in England and successfully prevented him from getting smallpox, he also used a lancet to scratch some infected material from a woman with cowpox (similar to smallpox) under the boy’s skin. Journal list>proc (bayl univ med cent) (2005, 18(1):21-25).
Nigeria’s expanded programmed on immunization [EPI] was first initiated in 1979 and the federal government of Nigeria, through the federal ministry of health continues to place high priority on immunization. During that period the strategies used in the programmed were divided in two;
- Fixed post; that is by visiting general hospitals, rural health centers, dispensaries and clinics.
- Mobile team; that is by moving from one settlement to another. The aim and objectives of this programmed is to reduce diseases like; tuberculosis, measles, whooping, cough, pertisus, neonatal tetanus, diphtheria and child mortality rate. It was sponsored by donor agencies such as WHO, UNICEF, and World bank.
In 1995 WHO, UNICEF, AND WORLD BANK withdrew their active support for immunization and therefore departments were created at federal, state and local governments. The programmed was also renamed as; National Programmed on Immunization (NPI). Public health reports (2013; 112(1): 10-20).
In 1996 the campaign for eradication of polio started all over the country with northern part of the country being the main focus area, but taboo, cultural beliefs and attitude hindered the successful achievement of the program in most parts of the country of which Kebbi State is one. In Birnin kebbi Local Government areas such taboos and beliefs are actually affect the realization of the goals of the program. Such these taboos and beliefs are: illiteracy, religious beliefs, traditional beliefs, seeing it as a way of reducing fecundity and poor component of health personnel. But reducing the rate of family and religious beliefs are the most serious problems that affected the
immunization programmed in that area.
In developed, developing and under developed nations of the world including Africa, Asia, Brazil, India, China, Japan, and Latin America, the implementation of large-scale application of immunization programmed has been remarkably successful in eliminating the prevalence of infectious diseases. For example in U.S childhood immunization is now a vital component of health [Mark and Darden 1999].
Since 1996 the concept of immunization as a method of diseases prevention has gained broad acceptance in Africa and Asia. Despite these advances, however, the diseases that are preventable through immunization still remain a major public health problem in Nigeria.
In 1995, a single disease among them (measles) claimed the lives of an estimated 1.2 million children and infected more than 45 million people. At the end of the twentieth century researches discovered that in the developing nations more than 3 million children still die annually from measles, neonatal tetanus and other diseases, while more than a quarter of a million children are crippled by poliomyelitis (WHO, 1995B).
However today in Nigeria there is improvement in medical facilities and health services and the rate of child and maternal mortality is reducing in our societies. The children considered adequately immunized against measles after receiving one dose of vaccine, (UNICEF, 2010).
It is against this background that, the research seeks to examine the impact of cultural beliefs on successful achievement of immunization programmed in Birnin Kebbi local government area of Kebbi State.
CULTURAL BELIEF AND IMMUNIZATION IN BIRNIN KEBBI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA KEBBI STATE NIGERIA