Dr. Lucas Nyabero, CEO of Elara Health Innovation and former head of the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya (PSK), has urged Kenyan parents to prioritize immunization, highlighting vaccines as one of the greatest public health achievements in centuries.
Speaking during an interview with Radio Generation on Wednesday, Nyabero said the effectiveness of vaccines often goes unnoticed because they prevent diseases before they occur.
“Vaccines are probably one of the best discoveries in a few years, in actually, in centuries, one of the best public health discoveries and the biggest problem, and that is actually exactly where the problem comes from, because then they function too good, they work too well, that we don’t get to see what they have prevented,” Nyabero explained on Tuesday.
He added that many young Kenyans have never seen illnesses such as polio because immunization programs have successfully kept these diseases at bay.
Nyabero compared vaccines to a “prep exam” in school, designed to prepare the body’s immune system for real-life exposure to disease.
“So vaccines are like that. So when vaccines are prepared such that they will expose the body to the same feel… The disease-causing effect is not there… So when you expose the body, it forms, it comes up with antibodies, like almost a new military to fight that particular thing,” he said.
Focusing on the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, Nyabero urged parents to ensure their children are vaccinated, emphasizing its role in preventing cervical cancer, one of the top five cancers affecting women in Kenya.
“Any parent out there, please make sure your kids get it. Here’s why it is. It prevents… cervical cancer, which is one of the leading, one of the five top leading cancers in Kenya, and that will prevent that,” he stated.
He dismissed myths linking the vaccine to infertility as unfounded, attributing such fears to rumors and misunderstandings about the reproductive system.
Nyabero also outlined the role of the Pharmaceutical Society of Kenya, a professional body for pharmacists, in shaping healthcare policies and ensuring high standards in pharmaceutical services.
“We come together and work on… see how to make sure we do policy, we push for policy changes that are necessary. We also make sure that there’s welfare for pharmacists, and we also make sure that the quality and the standards of pharmacists,” he said.
He concluded by urging Kenyans to embrace vaccines as a vital preventive tool.
“It is very hard to sell prevention when you prevent something from happening… How do we know you did okay? And as a result, of course, there’s always nefarious actors everywhere,” Nyabero noted, pointing to the need for trust and accurate information in public health campaigns