Kwara targets 404,703 children in measles vaccination campaign

KWARA state government aims to capture a total number of 404,703 children between ages nine months and five years in the 16 local government areas of the state in this year measles vaccination campaign.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Wednesday, the executive secretary, Kwara State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Mrs Abimbola Folorunso, said that 490 House-to-House mobilizers had been trained to carry out the exercise which commences on March 1.

The health expert, who said that the vaccines are safe, said that people should not panic but report any adverse effect of the vaccine like itching, vomiting and rashes on their children to health officials.

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Dr Folorunso said that the state was set to improve on 85 percent coverage recorded last year, adding that measles vaccination centres had been established at strategic places like mosques, churches, motor parks, markets, community halls among others.

She advised parents to make their children available for the vaccination in order to build defence mechanism in their children, adding that burden of measle campaign in the previous exercise was characterised with the religious belief among some people in the state.

Dr Folorunso, who also identified accessibility to some areas in the state as part of the burden of the campaign, said that selected teams and monitors have been engaged in each community in the state to ensure accurate record and an improved coverage of 95 percent.

She said that the 16 local government areas of the state had been divided into two groups of eight local government areas each for the six-day exercise, adding that the vaccination campaign time would be between 8:00 am and 2:00 pm on each day.

She also said that a recently vaccinated child could be presented for the exercise if within a week interval, added that there is no overdose of the measles vaccination.