The Kwara State government yesterday commenced the second round of routine immunisation exercise for 238,000 children across the state.
The state was conducting the immunisation exercise through the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency in collaboration with development partners.
The executive secretary of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Prof. Nusirat Elelu, said that the exercise is to further strengthen and scale up health services, particularly to hard-to-reach, underserved and zero-dose children.
She added that the exercise comprises of the second round of the Big Catch-up vaccination campaigns planned for Ifelodun, Baruten and Ilorin East local government areas, while the local immunization Plus Days is planned for implementation in the remaining 13 LGAs between 11th and 16th February, 2025.
She explained that the local immunisation Plus Days and the Big Catch up were being implemented to ramp up immunisation coverage, rapidly decrease zero dose and partially immunise children so as to increase population immunity through vaccinations.
Elelu emphasised that immunisation is one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions of all time, adding that it has prevented millions of deaths and ill health every year, thus reducing morbidity and mortality across the world in a safe and cost-effective manner.
She noted that the intensification exercise will adopt an integrated approach because the combination of vaccines with other health interventions such as vitamin A supplementation helps to reduce the likelihood of children dying from most of the childhood killer diseases.
She praised Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for providing the enabling environment as well as making funds available for the implementation of immunisation campaigns.
Elelu called on all stakeholders, service providers, community leaders, especially parents and other caregivers, to ensure that their children are immunised during this period.
