Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State State has promised to mobilise people at the grassroots for immunization.
Akeredolu said this on Saturday at Igbara Oke in Ifedore Local Government Area of the state at the inauguration of the “April 2018 Round of National Immunisation Plus Days’’ (NIPDs).
“We hold it a sacred mandate to put the welfare of our people as paramount and we shall mobilise all and sundry to participate in this programme.
“We enjoin parents, guardians and all adults living in the state to give this intervention the required attention’’, he said.
Akeredolu represented by the Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi, noted that only collective efforts could kick out polio and other dreaded diseases.
According to him, children under one month and 59 months will be administered the vaccine starting from Saturday to Tuesday.
The governor solicited an unquantifiable support of health workers to capture 100 per cent of the programme’s targets.
Earlier, Dr Wahab Adegbenro, the state Commissioner for Health, said the Federal Government collaborated with the state government to organise the programme.
It is to engender a wider coverage of the oral polio vaccination in the state, he said.
Adegbenro noted that polio was still of public health concern in the country.
He added that in order to rid the country of polio, there was the need for healthcare team to do more.
“NIPDs is one of the national strategies put in place to guarantee a polio-free Nigeria.
“By extension, it is to reduce the disease burden and mortality rate of children who are less than the age of five years’’, he said.
According to him, the state governor will continue to support NIPDs and other supplemental immunisation so that activities in all health services can be fortified for improved coverage.
The commissioner said that there might be need for more immunisation outreach sessions in all the 576 primary health facilities across the 18 local government areas of the state.
Adegbenro, therefore, thanked the state Governor for heeding the call for the health need of people by giving tireless support for healthcare activities.M
Mrs Atinuke Ogundare of African Epidemiology Networks, (AFENET), commended the efforts of the state on behalf of other partners.
She encouraged parents and guardians to make sure that all children between one day old and 59 months were immunised.
Ogundare assured the government of continued support for good healthcare of children and women.
Dr Francis Akanbiemu, the Executive Secretary of the Ondo State Primary Healthcare Development Board, commended the state government for its commitment toward the state health sector.
He appreciated the government for its passion, especially, in funding the primary health care . (NAN)
