Polio: Akeredolu Solicits Synergy for Healthy Future

By Oluniyi Akintunde, Akure

In its efforts to provide quality healthcare delivery to people especially pregnant women in the state, Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu has called for collective support for immunization activities for assurance of a healthy, fruitful and productive future generation.

Akeredolu made the call on Thursday (today) in Akure, the state capital while flagging off First Round National Immunisations Plus Days( NIPDs) at the State Specialist Hospital.

The governor stated that the exercise was aimed at sustaining a zero status for wild polio virus for the state and ridding Nigeria of the deadly and crippling disease of children known as poliomyelitis.

According to Akerdolu, the government would not relent until polio is completely kicked out of Nigeria as a whole, noting that polio in one state would put other state in the country at risk of the debilitating disease.

He however, called on traditional leaders, religious heads, Non Governmental Organizations and all relevant stakeholders to contribute their own quotas in attaining qualitative health delivery in the state.

Akeredolu promised that his administration would support all efforts aimed at providing healthcare delivery through its planned programmes.

The governor recalled that polio eradication initiative started in 1996 and the state has been able to eliminate the virus from all nooks and crannies of the state.

According to him, children below five years will be given two drops of potent OPV using house-to-house strategy and children under one year will be immunised against tuberculosis, diphtheria, pertussis, hepatitis, measles,yellow fever and tetanus at the fixed posts in all the designated health facilities.

Equally, pregnant women would be immunised against tetanus.

However, the first round of year 2017 NIPDS would last till March 28.

Akeredolu said the state government has put in place all machinery to ensure all eligible children and mothers were reached with all the intervention during the exercise.