Abia State Deputy Governor, Sir Ude Oko Chukwu, has charged stakeholders in the state Primary Healthcare Development Agency to mount strong synergy that would forestall further appearance of the wild polio in the state and country.
Chukwu, who gave the charge during a meeting of the State Immunization Task Force held at Government House, Umuahia, said that he convened the meeting to enable them look at critical issues affecting immunization and the need to ensure total eradication of Poliomyelitis and other communicable diseases in the state and the way forward.
The deputy governor disclosed that the meeting had become necessary following recent detection traces of the Polio Virus in 10 States of the Federation including Abia State six months after Nigeria had been declared Polio Free and issued with a Polio Free Certificate, and stressed the need for local government chairmen and traditional Rulers to take it as their primary responsibility of sanitising the people at the grassroots on the polio eradication campaign exercise
He warned that the immunisation exercise is compulsory for every child in the state and urged the Executive Secretary of Abia State Primary Healthcare Development to provide names and addresses of private schools that refused immunisation of their pupils, while chairmen of the various local government areas should ensure that health workers were no longer attacked and molested while doing their duties as well as traditional rulers and other stakeholders in sensitising their subjects on the need for them to present their children for immunisation.
The Executive Secretary, Abia State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Chinagozi Adindu, while giving a presentation on immunisation and update on COVID-19 vaccination in the state, listed their challenges to include threat to life of health workers in some LGAs, block rejection of vaccination of eligible children by private school proprietors across the state and other logistics problems and requested for the release of counterpart funds for the 2nd round of Outbreak Response ( OBR) implementation among others.
Responding on behalf of the local government chairmen, The Secretary, ALGON and Chairman Isuikwuato LGA, Chief Chima Agbaeze and the Chairman, Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze John Nwabeke, Chairman ASUBEB, Elder Josiah Anonaba, commended the state government for tits efforts in trying to improve the health indices of the state, called for adequate briefings and close collaboration with health care workers on issues concerning immunisation programs and health related matters before their commencement.
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