Okowa Flags off Measles Vaccination, Receives USA Health Award for Delta
Omon-Julius Onabu in Asaba
The Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, yesterday flagged off the 2022 State Integrated Measles Vaccine Campaign in Asaba, expressing appreciation, on behalf of the state, for the collaboration of various international partners for the administration’s children’s health programmes.
Okowa, at the occasion, received the United States Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (USCDC) Award for exemplary leadership in sustainable healthcare financing, which was recently conferred on the Delta State Government.
The award, Partnership for Sustainability Healthcare Financing (Budgeting, Release and Expenditure), was announced during the USCDC Biannual Program Performance Review Meeting/2022 End of Project Cycle Symposium held in Abuja.
The Delta State governor took the opportunity to thank the World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children Education Fund (UNICEF), National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and other partners for collaborating with the state government in the health sector, particularly towards safeguarding the health of children in the state.
The flag-off of the measles vaccine exercise is a component strategy at sensitising mothers and caregivers on the need to vaccinate their children and wards aged between nine months and 59 months (under five years) with the measles vaccine, he said, adding that it confers immunity against the disease on the recipients.
According to the governor, measles outbreak occurs when the child population immunity waned and a high proportion of the children in the communities were zero-dose for routine immunisation.
Okowa said: “The objective is to increase population immunity, thereby reducing the risk of measles virus transmission and outbreak in our communities.
“This, in addition to poor community and environmental hygiene practices, are risk factors for the disease.
“It is one of the diseases of great public health importance, thus requiring enormous collective efforts of individuals, households, health workers and various community-based organizations to ensure its prevention, control and surveillance.
“I call on Deltans to properly dispose of their refuse and not dump them in the drainages as this has serious health consequences for the communities, which apart from worsening the flood situation in those areas, nurture more breeding sites for disease vectors and vermin.
“I hereby admonish all of us to take responsibility for our personal and communal health while supporting government health initiatives, interventions and programmes to achieve optimal health in line with this administration’s determination to achieve Universal Health Coverage through the Stronger Delta Agenda.”
The governor also advised mothers to partake in the exercise by bringing out their children, aged nine months and below five years, for vaccination against the deadly measles disease irrespective of previous vaccination status.
Earlier in his welcome address, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mordi Ononye, noted that although measles was one of the vaccine-preventable diseases of childhood, it yet accounts for a large proportion of child deafness, blindness and even death among under-five children in Nigeria.
However, the health commissioner announced that the vaccination would be implemented in two phases for effective supervisory support and management by health professionals.
