The Enugu State Government says over 1.5 million children have so far received vaccination against measles and rubella within one week of the ongoing statewide immunisation campaign against the diseases.
The Executive Secretary of the Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Ifeyinwa Ani-Ocheku, disclosed this during the flag-off of the integrated Measles-Rubella vaccination campaign held at the Michael Okpara Square, Enugu, on Wednesday.
Ani-Ocheku said the figure represented about 68 per cent of the target population of 2.2 million children in the state, describing it as unprecedented and a demonstration of the state’s commitment to achieving zero cases of the disease.
She described the exercise as a “historic and deliberate” move to protect the future of the state.
“We are gathered here today not just for a ceremony but for a declaration. We declare that the life of a child in Nsukka is as valuable as the life of a child in New York.
“In Enugu, the health of our children is non-negotiable. We declare zero measles and zero rubella in Enugu State,” she said.
According to her, health workers embarked on aggressive community mobilisation, moving from house to house, to schools, churches and mosques to ensure that no child was left out.
She said that no serious adverse effects had been recorded since the exercise began.
The executive secretary explained that measles incubates for 10 to 14 days and can cause blindness, deafness, brain swelling and even death, while rubella, which incubates for 14 to 21 days, poses serious risks, including congenital disabilities in unborn children.
“Science has gifted us a vaccine, one shot, double protection. The vaccine is safe and effective, and this success belongs to our communities,” she said.
She commended Governor Peter Mbah for his administration’s reforms in the health sector, including the transformation of primary healthcare departments into functional Local Government Health Authorities and the timely release of counterpart funding.
Flagging off the exercise earlier, Mbah, represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Chidiebere Onyia, described the vaccination campaign as a “sacred obligation” of government.
He said, “Our future is not in the roads we build or the industries we attract. Our future is sitting in classrooms, playing in courtyards and lying in cradles across Enugu State. Our future is our children.”
The governor stressed that health remained a central pillar of his administration’s economic strategy, noting that a sick child could not learn or grow into an innovator, engineer or leader.
He highlighted key reforms carried out by the government, including granting autonomy to local government health authorities to remove bottlenecks in service delivery and sanitising primary healthcare payroll systems.
According to him, the reforms also include revitalising health training institutions and ensuring access to Basic Health Care Provision Funds.
He urged parents and caregivers to take advantage of the remaining days of the campaign to close the immunity gap by ensuring their children, aged between nine months and 14 years, receive the vaccines.
“In vaccination, 68 per cent is commendable, but it is not enough. The virus looks for the gaps. Let us find the remaining children. Our goal is simple: zero measles, zero rubella, full protection,” he said.
In goodwill messages, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. George Ugwu, and the Chairman of Oji River Local Government Area, Mr Greg Anyaegbudike, urged parents and caregivers with children aged between nine months and 14 years to present them for vaccination.
Ugwu called on them to make their children available for the vaccines before the February 15 deadline, assuring residents that the vaccines were safe, effective and critical to safeguarding the health and future of Enugu children.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the two-week exercise, which began on February 3, will end on February 15.
(NAN)
