Remote Nigerian village becomes front line in measles fight FEATURE 04/04/2011

Remote Nigerian village becomes front line in measles fight

FEATURE

04/04/2011
RIJIYA — One of the front lines of global health is in this dusty northern Nigerian village, where a man dressed in a turban and caftan walks the streets, delivering a warning through a megaphone.

“If you don’t want your child to die or suffer deformities like deafness or blindness, you better take your child to be immunized,” broadcasts Gado Maibuji, recruited by local officials to deliver the anti-measles message.

With the global effort to eradicate polio seeing major gains, international health agencies have also been highlighting the fight against measles, the highly contagious disease that kills over 160,000 children each year.

It is preventable through vaccination, and nearly all of the deaths occur in what are considered low-income countries with poor health infrastructure..... MORE

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20110404com3.html