The Pacesetter Frontier Magazine

Tag: Polio

  • ENUGU: Nkanu West Local Council First Lady flags off Measles, Yellow Fever vaccination

    ENUGU: Nkanu West Local Council First Lady flags off Measles, Yellow Fever vaccination

    ….donates money, equipments to aid process

    Committed to strengthening Maternal and Child Health Care in Nkanu West local council of Enugu State, the First Lady of Nkanu West LGA, Mrs Mary Onyinyechukwu Ejim, Friday, October 7, 2022, flagged off vaccination for Measles and Yellow Fever. 

    The flag off ceremony which was performed by the First Lady and the Council Chairman, Hon. Uchenna Ejim, was held at Nkanu West Health Centre.

    Speaking at the ceremony, the First Lady, Mary Onyinyechukwu Ejim, thanked the Governor of Enugu State, Rt. Hon. Dr. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and his wife, Mrs Monica Ugwuanyi, for their thoughtful support to the fight against the diseases. 

    She expressed gratitude to her husband, the council chairman, for what she described as his “unending support and dedication towards the welfare of Nkanu West residents especially women and children”.

    Addressing the women of the local council area who turned out in their numbers, she said, “we urge you to comply with us and allow your kids to be vaccinated”.

    Lauding the health department, especially frontline workers, she supported the vaccination programme with fifty thousand naira and a brand new megaphone to aid in making town announcements and disseminating health information.

    Head of Health Department in Nkanu West, Mrs Ogbodo Eunice, thanked the council chairman and first lady for their immeasurable support towards the welfare and affairs of Nkanu West health department.

    Stressing on the aim of the flag off and campaign as being for awareness, she noted that the vaccination will commence on October 13, 2022.

    “The vaccination will be administered not only in Nkanu West but all over Enugu. Other vaccines like COVID-19 vaccines and other routine immunizations will also be administered. The vaccination programme will last for 10 days and if you have received yellow fever vaccine in the past, you don’t need a second dose because the immunity lasts for 10 years”.

    The Supervisor for Health, Hon Mrs Roseline Nnaji, adviced the people to take advantage of the free-health services aimed at ensuring safety of children and adults against measles and yellow fever. 

    “Mothers have lost their babies to measles. It is important you cooperate with us and vaccinate your kids”, Nnaji said.

    Mrs Stella Ani pointed out that letters had been sent out to schools, churches and communities to inform them of the vaccination exercise. 

    She enlightened the residents more on the vaccination programme, stating that BCG (Bacillus Calmette–Guérin) vaccine fights against Tuberculosis (ukwara nta) and Polio vaccine fights against paralysis, weak muscles and muscle twitch.

    She expressed profound gratitude for the COVID-19 lab testing site established in Nkanu West, at Amurri health Centre. She also adviced mothers to pay close attention to training their young children especially the female ones, create a channel for proper communication with them and report any side effects to health/medical centres. 

    Pledging her continued support, the First Lady further supported nursing mothers with soaps, buckets and gave party women wrappers and fifty thousand naira. The council chairman, Hon. Uchenna Ejim, also made donations to support the vaccination exercise.

    HRH Igwe Okechukwu Egbune and Engr. Buchi Nnaji, SPA to the council chairman on Media, were present. 

    Others were representatives from Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency and World Health Organization.

    For photos: https://www.facebook.com/110217358133740/posts/pfbid02EPqbpbUwoRnuVjKWkXTs3CkXDg8NDE5ABQf991PBrh9XFcbrYLfhyQdidEP6NRuwl/?sfnsn=scwspmo

  • 100% Success recorded in Polio vaccination conducted in Enugu State.

    100% Success recorded in Polio vaccination conducted in Enugu State.

     

    Enugu State Government says it recorded 100 per cent success in its just-concluded polio vaccination, which targeted 1,014,953 children aged between 0 and 5 years.

     

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the state embarked on a five-day vaccination programme to prevent polio after receiving 1,306,700 doses of the new oral polio vaccines from National Primary Health Care Development Agency and its health partners.

     

    Dr George Ugwu, Executive Secretary, Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ENS-PHCDA), told NAN on Thursday in Enugu that the 2,834 vaccinating teams and their field supervisors worked with “serious dedication”.

     

    Ugwu said that by the fourth day, the vaccination teams were able to hit the number of the targeted population.

     

    According to him, the state even surpassed the projected target of children we set for the exercise, which is 20 per cent of the entire state population.

    The ENS-PHCDA boss said that the overwhelming success, which international health partners that supervised the exercise attested to, was due to the commitment of Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi to the exercise.

     

    Asked on what was done differently, Ugwu said that the Agency did massive mobilisation of community leaders, town union president-generals and religious leaders; while it sustained media sensitisation before and during the exercise.

     

    “This wide sensitisation created the demand for the polio vaccine even before our vaccinating teams got to the children and also helped in countering any perceived unfounded misinformation concerning the polio vaccines.

     

    “Two, we also paid transport stipend directly to the vaccinating teams especially those at the ward levels and same provision for their supervisors as well as other incentives given by the Gov. Ugwuanyi to ensure the success.

     

    “The governor also improved on the storage capacity and logistics of moving the vaccines with right packs and temperature to the various Primary Health Care (PHC) centres and ward aggregation points leading to quick and seamless distribution.

     

    “Again, we ensured accountability from our supervisors as the Agency kept them on their toes and ensured daily review of vaccination activities in each council areas during the exercise,” he said.

    Ugwu noted to ensure no child was left out, the state added two extra days (mop-up days), to enable the vaccination teams to keep searching all the nook and crannies.

     

    “We have to send another text message to the community and religious leaders across the state, appealing to them to use traditional means to get across to their people to ensure that no child is left out and they did,” he said.

     

    The ENS-PHCDA boss lauded Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for supporting the agency tremendously for the exercise, and mobilizing both professionals and logistics, to ensure the huge success recorded in the exercise.

     

    “Our health-loving governor, Chief Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has supported the agency to ensure that no child is left out, notwithstanding the remoteness and the extra cost to locate the child,” he said.

     

    He also appreciated the health partners of the state for providing the support and guidelines followed by the Agency for resounding success.

     

    NAN reports that the statewide polio vaccination took place between Oct. 6 and Oct. 10; while the two mop-up days took  place between Oct. 12 and Oct 13.

     

     

     

    Source: www.vanguardngr.com