Measles Campaign:Board Calls For Wider Coverage

In a bid to reduce the burden of measles in the state and country at large, the Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board (RSPHCMB) has stressed the need for partnership by parents, team officers, media and other stakeholders to ensure wider coverage of the exercise in the state.
The State Health Educator (SHE), RSPHCMB, Dr Doris Nria stated this at the 2018 Measles Vaccination Campaign (MVC) Media Orientation Meeting in Port Harcourt, Monday.
Nria revealed that the exercise would be adequately monitored by the federal government, saying that all hands must be on deck in the state to meet up the federal government’s score card.
“Every child between the ages of nine months to 59 months (5 years) that is vaccinated will be given a card for a proof. The exercise is competitive. A monitoring team from the federal level will be sent to states and we want our state to score high, therefore we need your cooperation,” he said.
While noting that measles vaccination was technical Nria said technically trained officers and personnel would form part of each team to administer the vaccines.
The State Health Educator said there would be fixed posts which are the health centres as well as temporary fixed posts in each community of the state, adding that officers would move from house to house to mobilise parents to bring their children and wards to the posts for vaccination.
Also speaking, the Rivers State Coordinator, World Health Organisation (WHO), Pharmacist Chineye Aghalu regretted the high burden of the disease in the country, stating that the campaign would give the children a second opportunity to be vaccinated against the deadly disease.

Lady Godknows Ogbulu