8th July, 2017
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Primary Health Care Development Board says it is targeting 750,000 children for immunisation in the July Sub National Vaccination Plus Day in the territory.
The Acting Executive Secretary of the board, Dr Matthew Ashikeni announced this at the official launching of the July Immunisation Round which starts on July 8.
Ashikeni said that the sub national vaccination was going on in 17 high risk states in the northern part of the country including FCT.
He said that about 884,000 doses of Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) had been made available for the territory, while 1,166 vaccinators would be deployed to six area councils in FCT to carry out the vaccination.
According to him, the board under his leadership will ensure strict supervision as it has declared zero tolerance to polio and other diseases in the territory.
The acting secretary said that the vaccinators would go from house to house, schools, markets, IDPs, nomadic homes, among others and ensuring no child under the age of five was left out.
Ashikeni urged residents and caregivers to cooperate with the team of vaccinators in ensuring all their children within the age limit were immunised to prevent polio in the territory.
Mrs Alice Odey-Achu, the Acting Secretary Health and Human Services in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), said the administration was committed toward eradicating polio in the territory.
Odey-Achu, who was represented by the Director, Health Planning Service, Dr Mohammed Kawu, said that due to commitment of FCTA, the accumulative of unimmunised children had dropped from 13,000 to 3,000 as at last exercise.
She said that the minister had been educating residents on electronic media on the importance of immunisation of children against polio and other killer diseases.