Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun has disclosed that over two million children, under five years were immunised during the Supplemental Immunisation Campaign, just as measures were being put in place to ensure that children in the State are Polio free.
Governor Abiodun stated this at a tree planting ceremony to commemorate the African Region for Eradication of Wild Polio, at the State Secretariat, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
He said, “It is important to remember that the war against Polio is won, not on a platter of gold, as we cannot afford to lose our guard, but sustain the innovative approaches like increasing community involvement and establishing emergency operation centres at national and State levels.”
According to the Governor, health challenges prevent personal growth and affects a country’s economic development, noting that a population faced with health issues could hardly contribute to the wellbeing of the society.
He noted that, although, Nigeria accounted for more than half of the world’s Polio cases in 2012, but with concerted efforts by governments, civil societies, religious leaders and other stakeholders through immunization it have resulted in eradication of the virus in the country.
Governor Abiodun reiterated that his-led administration would increase immunisation and surveillance, scale up the process in the 20 Local Government Areas, as well as increase funding of the outreach across the 236 Wards, including the hard to reach communities, where health facilities are lacking, in order to sustain and maintain the gains recorded so far.
The Governor also said vaccines would be made available in all the Primary Health Centres with necessary cool chain equipment to maintain their potency, while appreciating the Federal government, World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) and other stakeholders for their constant technical and financial support to improve the health of children in the State.
In a remark, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Tomi Coker appreciated stakeholders who contributed to the course of eradicating the virus, urging citizens to give more support to health workers to guarantee a healthy society.
The WHO representative in the state, Dr Dele Davies on his part, lauded the State government on its immunisation efforts aimed at ensuring that children in the State were free from the Virus.
DISCLAIMER
The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.
Leave a Reply