Nigeria Will be Polio-free in October’
The Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Public Health, Dr Yewande Adeshina has said that Nigeria will be polio-free by October this year and everyone must put in his/her best to making it happen.
Adeshina spoke at the commencement of the first round of 2015 National Immunisation Plus Days (NIPDs) at the Ikeja Local Government Area in Lagos recently.
She said Nigeria will be polio-free in October, if it does not have record of any new case within the next seven months.
“In 2009 we had as much as 200 cases of polio in the country but last year we only had six cases and so far we have not had any this year which means in seven months time, we would have moved to another level in terms of countries free from polio.
“This is why we must all come together to take Nigeria off the list of the countries that are causing the menace of polio in the world,” she said.
Dr Adeshina stated that the polio eradication initiative of the federal government must be followed so as to achieve the feat.
She said: “In Lagos State, we are doing beyond the flagging off which is recommended, we have embarked on massive media campaign to increase the awareness of the importance and safety of polio immunization. Jingles are being aired, Local Government Areas social mobilizers have been moving within the communities to sensitize and mobilize the citizens, town announcements, community dialogues, church/mosque announcements, sensitizations with schools, and advocacy meetings with LGA Executives and key traditional and religious leaders are being carried out.”
She added that the state was using the house to house transit components to administer polio vaccines to children between 0-59 months irrespective of their immunization status. She encouraged parents to ensure that children and wards are taken to the Primary Health Care Clinics to receive vaccines and all other scheduled immunizations, adding that this would protect them against preventable killer diseases.
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