The Kogi State Government has flagged off the 2024 Measles Supplementary Immunization campaign targeted at stopping the spread of measles infection in the escalating dry and harmattan period.
The Wife of Kogi Governor, Hajia Sefinat Usman Ododo, who flagged off the campaign on Thursday in Lokoja, urged parents to avail their children of the privileged preventive measures to tackle the killer disease.
Hajia Ododo, who was represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Sandra Musa, said the free measles vaccination was part of the government’s commitment to paying attention to the health of the future leaders.
“Our Children should be considered as our beauty in life, hence the need to give them the desired sound health.
“We as citizens must ensure that we make our children available for the vaccination programme because prevention they say is better than cure,” she said.
In his remarks, Dr. Abdullazeez Adams, the state’s Commissioner for Health, commended the immunization campaign initiative, saying it would go a long way in providing protection for children against the killer disease.
He promised the state government’s commitment to providing necessary support to the immunisation campaign activities in order to stop the spread of measles in all parts of the state.
“Our commitment as a government is to ensure that every child receives their vaccination” he assured.
Earlier, the Executive Director of Kogi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (KSPHCDA), Dr. Abubakar Yakubu, said the 2024 Measles Supplementary Immunization campaign was put in place by the agency in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.
According to him, the campaign is to stop the spread of measles infection especially at this escalating dry and harmattan period.
“Measles is a highly contagious viral infection that, for many years, has been a leading cause of death among children worldwide; the only powerful weapon in the fight against it is measles vaccine.
“Measles vaccination is only meant for children between ages of nine to 59 months,” he said.
Abubakar noted that Nigeria had recorded over 16,000 suspected measles cases between January 2024 till date, saying the reports was far higher than what was obtainable in the past years, with 70 death recorded within the same period.
“Kogi has recorded 167 suspected cases of measles between January 2024 till date, our agency’s target is to achieve 95 per cent measles vaccination during this integrated supplementary campaign across the state.
This effort is aimed at creating enough awareness and sensitisation campaigns on the impact of measles disease and its associated preventive measures,” he said.
The KSPHCDA executive director further announced that the Polio vaccination campaign would follow suit from November 30th to December 3rd.
(Accuratenews)
