Kogi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (KSPHCDA) has urged local government administrators in the state to be actively involved in routine immunisation of children against the six-killer diseases in the state.
Dr Abubarka Yakubu, Executive Director, KSPHCDA, made the call at the inauguration of January 2019 Local Immunisation Days (LIDs) for women and children on Thursday at Okofi, Kogi/Kotokarfe Local Government Area of the state.
He called on the council administrators to take responsibility by ensuring that people in ‘hard-to-reach’ communities in their locality access the full implementation of all stages of routine immunisation.
“We want the routine immunisation to be entirely a local government affair.The agency at the state level will give all the needed support to the local governments to carry out this exercise on their own.
“The local governments should see the routine immunisation as everybody’s responsibility; we do not want our children to be in bondage of death from preventable diseases.
“We have been having problems with some of our reports coming from LGAs, especially from the areas, that there are hard-to-reach communities, in terms of routine immunisation.
“It is on this note that we felt we should conduct this flag-off at the remotest part of the settlements at the LGA level; we will ensure that the commodities reach every LGA.
“We are doing our best at the state level, we are not relenting efforts to ensure the sustainability of the routine immunisation programme across the state; the commodities are free and save,” Yakubu said.
The executive director commended the traditional and religious leaders for their sustained support.
He, however, warned the people against politicising the programme, saying “it is a health issue and I want you to take it very seriously”.
The Kogi/Kotokarfe local governmentAdministrator, Mr Tanko Yusuf, represented by Mr Jibril Idris, the Health Supervisor in the council, commended the state government for bringing the routine immunisation to the remote settlements.
He assured that the council officials would be actively involved in the programme by sensitisiting and mobilising women and their children on the routine immunisation, especially in the hard-to-areas.
Mrs Sabdat Ajakaye, Programme Manager, Saving One Million Lives (SOML) programme, said SOML was meant to improve the health of women and children from ages 0 to 5, through free vaccines with other benefits.
Ajakaye advised the people to come out en masse to access the free commodities.
One of the beneficiaries of the programme, Mrs Hawa Rakeni, thanked the state government for bringing the routine immunisation to the remote communities.
“I am happy that my baby and I have been immunised.” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that benefits of the routune immunisation include provision of Vitamin A supplement, De-worming, measles vaccination, tartanus injection, Penta-3 and Ante-natal Care services.
