27th October, 2016
Mr. Amaje John, the Kogi State Immunisation Officer, on Thursday said that the state had been polio-free since 2009.
John told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja that the last wild polio case in the state was in Dekina Local Government area in 2009, stressing that the state had not recorded any other case since then.
The immunization officer said that the state had enough vaccines for various immunization cases, especially the polio vaccine.
“Right now, the state is doing what we called ‘Intensifying Routinization Activities’ in all our health facilities to strengthen immunization of children below the age of one.
“The routinization is part of preventive measures which involves various stakeholders including community leaders and health workers from all health facilities across the state.
“This information has gone round the entire state because the awareness is very high that every mother will have no excuse not to immunize their children.
“It is a very good opportunity that mothers should not fail to take their children to clinic for immunization in order to safeguard them from preventable diseases,” John said.
In a related development, the State Executive Council has approved the establishment of special health care centers to be called “Health Care Plus”.
The centers are designed for pregnant women and newborn babies across the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Saka Harunah, told NAN that the scheme would be a project with multiple components to cater for the pregnant women and newborn babies.