The Anambra State First Lady, Mrs Nonye Soludo, has flagged off the 2024 Immunization Week in the State.
The governor’s wife who flagged off the exercise in Awka, stated that the immunization, offers another opportunity for a collective approach for prevention and control of so many child killer diseases.
The scheduled routine immunization, which provides vaccination for vaccine-preventable diseases, is available for children between the ages of zero and fifteen months.
According to the Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Afam Obidike, the vaccination programme will be carried out in all the primary health centres as well as secondary and tertiary health facilities across the state.
Some of the major diseases to be vaccinated against include poliomyelitis, tuberculosis, hepatitis, diphtheria, diarrhoea, pneumonia, whooping cough, tetanus and meningitis.
Commenting on the programme which falls under her supervision, Mrs Soludo said that the government has set a new target in both coverage and results, explaining that this year’s exercise will be carried out with a better vision.
She, however, added that achieve a better result from the programme, every stakeholder has to fall in with better efforts to complement government targets and goals.
The governor’s wife equally urged parents and guardians whose children are within the eligible vaccination ages to ensure that they get them duly vaccinated.
Mrs Soludo also urged health workers who would be administering the vaccination to target people in rural communities, especially those living in riverine areas, and also asked women leaders in the 326 wards of the state to lead the programme in their respective communities.
She also commended the World Health Organization (WHO) Office in Anambra State for providing timely support for the vaccination and other leading health interventions in the state, describing the global body’s partnernership with Anambra as strategic.
The Anambra first lady further stated that even though the state has made great progress in tackling child-killer diseases, earning it the second spot as the state with lowest number of Under-5 mortality in the country, the current administration is determined to achieve the least count of infant deaths that would be very sustainable.
