RSG Flags-Off Tetanus Elimination Campaign

The health-care revolution of the Governor Chibuike Amaechi-Ied administration yesterday moved a step further with the flag-off of the State maternal, neonatal tetanus elimination programme and the commissioning of the Beeri Primary Health Centre in Khana Local Government Area of the State.

Speaking while flagging off the programme, the State Deputy Governor, Engr. Tele Ikuru, said it was the government’s desire to locate primary health-care centres close to the people in the 23 local government areas.

The Deputy Governor, who represented Governor Amaechi at the event, reminded mothers of their duty to ensure the proper upbringing of their children by giving them adequate medical attention.

According to him, “as future leaders of the country, children need motherly respect and care,” pointing out that tetanus infection was a killer disease that has taken the lives of several children.

Describing the event as historic in Khana Local Government Area, Engr. Ikuru noted that the flag-off of the programme was the first of its kind not only in the State but in the federation, and advised mothers to have a change in attitude towards the health care of their children.

In his speech, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr Sampson Parker, explained that the idea behind the building of the health centre was to eradicate tetanus from the area, adding that the ailment was preventable though it kills.

He reiterated government’s commitment towards providing such facilities in parts of the State, pointing out that Rivers State had recorded 70 per cent progress in polio eradication while efforts were being made towards achieving a polio-free State.

Also speaking, the Chairman, Khana Local Government Area, Mr. Gregory Nwidam, thanked Governor Amaechi for siting the health centre in the area and appealed for more social amenities that will touch the lives of the people and make them enjoy the dividends of democracy.

Speaking on behalf of the Khana Council of Chiefs, the Mene Bua-Baghna, Chief Suanu Baridam, appealed to Governor Amaechi to fulfill his promise on the provision of electricity to the people of Khana, disclosing that with the building of the new health centre, the area now has seven of such facilities.