World Pneumonia Day 2017: Nigeria

07 Dec World Pneumonia Day 2017: Nigeria

Posted at 21:47h in Blog, Uncategorized by Mica Williams

This story is a part of the World Pneumonia Day (WPD) 2017 Global Activities Round-Up Series. This year, countries around the world held events and campaigns. In Nigeria, diverse stakeholders conducted outreach on social media, issued reports, and conducted outreach events to raise awareness about pneumonia.

Published December 13, 2017

By Obinna Onuoha

Nigeria joined countries around the world to observe this year’s World Pneumonia Day (WPD) by conducting a series of events highlighting the need to protect against, prevent and treat pneumonia. Outlined below are highlights of the WPD 2017 effort.

Spreading the word

Social media efforts allowed Nigerian advocates to reach stakeholders with diverse messages about pneumonia. The Women Advocates for Vaccine Access (WAVA), an initiative of the Johns Hopkins University International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC), teamed up with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to create a WPD social media initiative. WAVA developed a social media toolkit for Nigeria, adapted from the IVAC Pneumonia and Diarrhea Progress Report 2017. GSK produced materials including an animated video featuring top officials in GSK, and a vox pop that was created in partnership with KraksTV, a notable online comedy short film company. The vox pop made 197,489 impressions and reached 156, 881 users.

Example of social media from the GSK/WAVA Toolkit

In a similar vein, Managing Director of Direct Consulting and Logistics (DCL), Dr. Shola Dele-Olowu, was key speaker on a live Facebook chat for WPD 2017. Organized in partnership with Envision Global Care Foundation, the theme of the chat was: Speak to Stop Pneumonia. The Facebook chat discussed the causes, symptoms, prevention and treatment of pneumonia. The chat also provided information about the Global Action Plan for Prevention and Control of Pneumonia and Diarrhea (GAPPD) that provides guidelines on how to scale up activities to protect, prevent, and treat pneumonia. In addition, the impact of pneumonia in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps – which inspired Envision to organize the chat – was highlighted per risk factors such as overcrowding, poor sanitation and nutrition. Thus, the chat provided areas of focus for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in IDP camps to address in tackling pneumonia. The Facebook chat reached 927 people and got 312 views. One participant asked the question: “What effort is the government doing to prevent pneumonia in Nigeria?” Dr. Dele-Olowu responded with the fact that the Nigerian government, through the NPHCDA, was ensuring availability of all vaccines necessary for prevention of pneumonia. She also mentioned that the ongoing national measles vaccination campaign was an important element in pneumonia control.

A social media advertisement for the Facebook Chat on Nov. 12th, 2017

Sharing research

Save the Children Nigeria also participated in WPD activities by developing a call-to-action briefer, which was shared during the Global Pneumonia Report Launch in Lagos State. The report provided key facts about pneumonia in Lagos State, and recommendations to the State Government in tackling the disease. The event was organized in association with the Lagos State Ministry of Health.

A photo from the Save the Children Global Pneumonia Report Launch

Engaging media

The Vaccine Network for Disease Control (VNDC), a WAVA member organization, held a WPD press conference in collaboration with Community Health Research Initiative (CHR Nigeria). The press conference, which took place on Nov 13 in Abuja, was titled: ‘Leader’s on Guard Against Pneumonia.’ The event started with the reading out of a press brief by VNDC Founder, Mrs. Chika Offor, as she highlighted the impact of pneumonia on child deaths in Nigeria, while calling for increased efforts by government to strengthen the health system to fight the disease. Additional speakers included representatives from WAVA, Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), NPHCDA, Geonita Initiative for Women and Child Development (IWACHD), Federation of Muslim Women Association of Nigeria (FOMWAN), and Nigerian Women Agro Allied Farmers Association (NIWAAFA). The event was also attended by four community leaders: Muhammad Suleiman Sauki, Chief of Ijagbagyi village, Tafa LGA Niger State, Williams Zakwoi, Chief of Kawunpe, Diko-Gurara LGA Niger State, Solomon A. Kure, Chiroman Ija of Tafa LGA Niger State, and James Budebo, Chief of Damangaza community, Abuja Municipal Area Council, Abuja. The Local Immunization Officer (LIO) of Gurara LGA, Niger State, Abubakar Mahmud was also in attendance. The chiefs pledged to support immunization, especially against pneumococcal disease. Other attendees to the event were women and children from the various communities and members of the press. VNDC also used the opportunity to distribute audio books on pneumonia to school children at Glowing Ages Academy in Abuja, as well as to children from Damangaza village in Abuja. The books were donated by Pfizer.