14th October, 2011
The National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) said it would re-engage the health workers and ensure prompt availability of commodities to bridge the gap in polio eradication.
Dr. Emmanuel Abanida, Acting Executive Director of the agency said this in Abuja on Thursday during the 22nd meeting of the Expert Review Committee (ERC) on polio eradication and routine immunisation in Nigeria.
“The weight is dependent on what the states, local government areas are going to do; how we are going to re-engage the health workers to ensure that they do quality job and change their attitude; how we, as a country, are going to ensure that commodities are available on time.
“We have a marching order by government that we must close the gap and we have to do that; that is why we are intensifying activities. At the end of this month we intend to go to Kano and Jigawa where over 60 per cent of the viruses are now, to do rounds and by the end of November, we are also going to go to all 12 high risk states to do another round.’’
Abanida said the agency would improve the use of data to fine-tune its strategies and embark on more systematic approach to understand persistent non-compliance and to collect more information.
He tasked the media to ensure that the public was well-informed about the importance of vaccination.
Also speaking, Mr. Busuyi Onabule, Chairman, Rotary Plus Nigeria said the country must find a way to stop polio transmission by ensuring that operational structures were effective.
Onabule identified poor stipends and late payment of same to vaccinators as a morale dampener that was affecting immunisation in the country.