In order to achieve the target of a wider coverage in the upcoming national Measles campaign, the Federal Government has stressed the need for health personnel to as part of their activities build confidence in the minds of parents and communities.
The Social Moblisation Consultant, 2018 Measles Campaign and delegate to Rivers State Measles Campaign Monitoring, Alhaji Muhammed Yishau gave the charge while speaking at the State Sensitisation meeting with local government Caretaker Committee Chairmen at the East Lake Hotel, Port Harcourt, recently.
Yishau said the call became imperative following the recent misconceptions on vaccination and immunisation across the country.
Yishau said the minds pf parents and communities needed to be worked on to embrace the campaign to enable them present their children and wards for the vaccination to save their lives.
“Measles is a killer disease. The issue of health is for everybody including our children who are our future. For this year’s campaign, we have a target and for us to achieve it, we need to build confidence and trust in the minds of our people and communities especially because measles campaign does not come often. Now that it is here, we need to stand up and say yes to it to save the lives of our children and future Nigeria”, Yishua said.
Speaking to The Tide shortly after the meeting, the state Health Educator, Rivers State Primary Healthcare Management Board, Dr. Doris Nria stated that though measles was there in the routine immunization schedule, the biannual measles campaign was one of the supplemental immunisation activities aimed at boosting the immunity of children against measles infections.
Nria who disclosed that the campaign would commence on March 1, explained that it would be in two phases.
“The first phase will be in March 1-6 and the second phase will be between March 8-13. This is because we want to ensure that we have more trained manpower in each team of about seven persons”, she said.
Nria said the campaign would involve house to house mobilisations, Churches, Schools, religious organisations and various leaders among others and called on every stakeholder including parents and teachers/caregivers to partner with the campaign teams for a hitch-free vaccination and a free measles state.

Lady Godknows Ogbulu