World Pneumonia Day: Nollywood practitioners advocate regular vaccination

Popular Nollywood actress, Ini Edo and actor, Ikechukwu Mitchel Ogbonna, popularly known as IK Ogbonna, have called on Nigerians to make themselves available for immunisation and vaccination to prevent pneumonia.

The celebrities countered misconceptions and myths around vaccinations, saying: “they are false.”

They made this call, yesterday, in Lagos to mark World Pneumonia Day. Both celebrities were unveiled as Niyel Immunisation Champions.

While signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Niyel, Edo and Ik Ogbonna said as Immunisation Champions, they would enlighten Nigerians on the importance and efficacy of immunisations on social media.

He said the campaign against the spread of false information on vaccines and run fun quizzes, where Nigerians can win prizes.

Ogbonna said: “It is important that we start these media activities today. Pneumonia is one of the deadliest diseases that can be prevented by vaccination. It has killed many, especially those that are unvaccinated. We need to double up efforts to ensure that more people are vaccinated.”

Also, Ini Edo said it was an opportunity for her to reorient the public on the benefits of vaccination.

She said: “As a celebrity, I will use my popularity to save lives. I will continue to empower mothers, save their lives and that of their children.”

Senior Advocacy Officer, Dr. Obinna Ebirim at Niyel said pneumonia could be prevented through vaccines, adding that many are “missing out on the preventive pneumococcal vaccines.”

He said that engaging celebrities like Ini Edo and IK Ogbanna with numerous fans across many African countries, and huge online fellowship “is a good strategy to reach many who are missing out on these vaccines and to increase their confidence in immunisation.

Ebirim said: “Vaccines save millions of lives yearly. They protect us, our children and communities from many deadly diseases…”

The Founder and Executive Director of Niyel, Valerie Traore, said Niyel was founded in 2008, as an international advocacy and
campaign firm based in Dakar, Senegal. It works to promote public policies that are conducive to peoples’ overall development.

She said: We understand the social, political, and cultural issues that affect our daily lives”.