Kogi govt harps on immunisation of children

The Kogi State Government has emphasised the need for citizens of the state to always bring out their children to be vaccinated against polio and other childhood diseases.

Executive Director, Kogi Primary Healthcare Development Agency (KSPHCDA), Dr Abubakar Yakubu, made the call during a roadshow organised by the agency in Lokoja to sensitise residents of the state about the third round of polio vaccination exercise in the state.

Yakubu said that the roadshow was part of the social mobilisation aspects of the Outbreak Response (OBR) the agency was conducting across the state against the outbreak of vaccine-derived polio virus.

‘‘The essence of the roadshow is to create adequate awareness. We hope that by the end of this third round, we will be at the verge of pushing out completely the remnants of polio virus from Kogi State,’’ he said

The executive director added the state government had also strengthened its routine immunisation aspects that would allow for yellow fever vaccination at the age of nine months.

He assured that with the arrangements the agency had put in place, any major outbreak should not be anticipated in the state for now.

‘‘But notwithstanding, we are still doing our best in surveillance and monitoring of the process of the yellow fever outbreak in other neighbouring states,’’ he said.

He, therefore, enjoined stakeholders to mobilise the general public to participate in the immunisation campaign, and for parents to bring out their wards to nearby healthcare centres for immunisation.