By Muhammad Amaan
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has unveiled a hip-hop soundtrack geared toward the eradication of zero dose children.
Speaking during the unveiling of the soundtrack, Dr David Audu, UNICEF’s Health Specialist, Bauchi Field Office, explained that zero dose children are children who had not received a single vaccine at all, making them at high risk of being hit by vaccine-preventable diseases.
According to him, the West and Central Africa has over the years had issues regarding coverage in immunisation and because of this, the regions have had outbreaks of diseases like polio, measles, diphtheria, yellow fever and Nigeria was not exempted from these.
He said that the soundtrack is to support programmatic actions to ensure that no child misses out on life-saving vaccines.
“No More Zero Dose song leverages the influence of UNICEF ambassadors and music stars from Nigeria, Mali, Chad, Cameroon, and Guinea to create significant public awareness and inspire action for immunisation.
“This new track starring West and Central Africa’s top artists, including our very own Ali Nuhu, Cobhams, Waje, Spyro, Timi Dakolo, Omawumi, Kate Henshaw, shares a powerful message
“The message is that every child deserves to be immunised and protected. We cannot allow these children to go unprotected. They need to receive a life-saving vaccine.
“So, this song as we launched it today, as the government of Bauchi state supports us in launching this song, we ask that we share this song on all your social media platforms,” he said.
Dr Audu reiterated the commitment of UNICEF to further create more awareness among the communities on the need to access quality and standard healthcare services delivery as well as immunisation campaigns.
Also, the state’s Commissioner for Health, Dr Sani Dambam lauded UNICEF for releasing the new song, saying that the lyrics were clearly arranged as well as communicating the messages in a fascinating manner.
He said that awareness creation was critical in mobilising parents and guardians to allow their children to be immunised against all child-killer diseases.
The Commissioner assured that the ministry would continue to collaborate with all development partners in order to achieve the set objectives of improved healthcare delivery services in the state.
