So Necks Can Turn Without Pain

Seventeen-year-old Elison Gideon, like everyone else, turns his head without thinking. To greet a friend. To answer when someone calls his name. To look over his shoulder as he walks home from school.

It is a natural movement that everyone does, with no stress. But a disease can make such simple action difficult. One of the earliest signs of meningitis is a stiff neck. Suddenly, the simple act of turning your head becomes painful. In severe cases, the disease can do far worse. It can claim lives.

That is why, when Elison heard that a vaccination team had arrived in Kulushi community in Shongom Local Government Area of Gombe State, he did not wait. He joined the queue.

"We were told about the disease and how it can affect people," he says. "That is why I came to get vaccinated." For Elison, protecting himself means protecting the future he is working towards. As he prepares for his Senior School Certificate Examination, he knows that good health gives him the chance to keep chasing his dreams. His decision comes at a time when meningitis remains a real threat.

Only a few months earlier, Shongom had recorded cases of the disease. Gombe is one of Nigeria's high-burden meningitis states, where outbreaks often occur during the dry season. Between October 2025 and April 2026, meningitis claimed 92 lives across Nigeria.

But meningitis is preventable.

In July 2026, the Gombe State Government, with support from the International Coordinating Group on Vaccine Provision (ICG), the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) and UNICEF, launched a reactive vaccination campaign across Shongom and neighbouring Biliri Local Government Area. The campaign targeted everyone between the ages of one and twenty-nine, taking lifesaving vaccines directly into communities at greatest risk.

For health worker Ruth Jombe, who resides in Shongom, the campaign is deeply personal. Every morning, she vaccinates people, some of whom she has known all her life.

Ruth Jombe has seen the devastation meningitis can bring and  is delighted to bring vaccination to her community.

"This is my community," she says. "I have seen meningitis patients before. It is heartbreaking. Vaccination is one of the effective ways we can protect ourselves from this disease, and I am happy to be part of bringing that protection to my own people."

Every person she vaccinates is one less person vulnerable to the disease. "No family should experience the pain and loss caused by meningitis," she says.

But Ruth knows that a vaccine alone is not enough. Every vaccination is also an opportunity to speak with families about hygiene, answer questions and encourage them to protect themselves before the disease strikes.

That same belief drives Ruth Mohammed. She is one of the UNICEF-supported mama2mama volunteers, a network of women who walk from house to house, helping families understand the importance of immunization.

Ruth Mohammed, a mama-to-mama speaks to a mother and her son about the safety and effewctiveness of vaccines in keeping diseases away

"Vaccines being available is one thing," she says. "But what if people do not know about them or understand why they are important?" When news of the campaign reached her, she knew exactly what she had to do.  "We had cases just a few months ago. I did not want anyone to miss the opportunity to be protected."

She spent her days knocking on doors, listening to people's concerns, correcting misinformation and encouraging every eligible person to get vaccinated. Across Shongom, dozens of mama2mama volunteers are doing the same, making sure that information reaches every household, not just those who live close to health facilities.

Dorcas gets herself and her son vaccinated against meningitis during the July 2026 reactive vaccination campaign

For Elison, vaccination protects his dreams. For Ruth Jombe, every dose is a chance to spare another family the heartbreak of losing someone to a disease that can be prevented.

For Ruth Mohammed, every conversation is another opportunity to save a life.

Together, they are turning vaccines into protection. They are proving that protecting a community takes more than vaccines. It takes trusted health workers, dedicated volunteers, informed families and young people willing to protect themselves and those around them. So that something as ordinary as turning your head remains exactly that. Ordinary. Painless. And never taken for granted.