Immunisation Begins April 12

All is set for the second
round of the National Immunisation plus Days (NIPDs) campaign.
The Executive Secretary, Rivers State Primary Healthcare Management Board (RSPAMB), Dr. Claribd Abam who made this known in a chat in her office, stated that the exercise is expected to run from April 12 to April 15 2014 in all the Local Government Areas of the State.
Dr. Abam said health workers would move from house to house administering two drops of oral polio vaccine on children under five years. She said the health workers would also visit worship centres, social centres market places and playgrounds to ensure that no eligible child is left out.
She urged parents and care-givers to take their children and wards aged 0-5 years, to health centres nearest to them for routine immunization.
She used the opportunity to thank all members of the team, who worked for the state to achieve a 100% administrative immunization coverage, by World Health Organisation agents.
She noted that by 2012, the coverage was only about 32 per cent, saying, “when we took over the routine immunization coverage was about 32 per cent, but we have worked it up to 100 percent in the two and half years that we’ve been in charge.”
Similarly, the State Immunisaiton Officer, RSPHMB, Dr Rita Wilson, stated that through the hard work of stakeholders, the year’s target number of 271,023 under five children was achieved.
Dr. Wilson said, “what this means is that we have immunity for all the vaccine preventable childhood killer diseases and we shouldn’t have out breaks of these diseases.
She allayed the fears expressed by parents about the multiple dosages their children had to take, saying that “the more the doses the stronger the immunity of the child,” adding “minimum number of doses for an antigen is four, additional doses are welcome.”
She said the board has set a target of 95 per cent and expressed the hope that this target would be achieved.

Tonye Nria-Dappa