THE government of Bayelsa State says it has mobilised 2, 618 health workers with the mandate to distribute 376,000 doses of vaccine across communities in order to control and eliminate the infectious measles disease.
Speaking during the flag-off of a measles campaign in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Pabara Newton Igwele, revealed that the state had recorded 42 cases and that there was an urgent need to put the epidemic under control.
Giving further details, Dr. Igwele said that five out of the eight local government areas of the state recorded the 43 cases and they included Ekeremor 25 cases; Brass 13 cases, Sagbama, three cases; Ogbia, one case, and Kolokuma/Opokuma one case.
He further explained that those eligible for the measles vaccine are children between nine months and five years and that health workers have started going round communities across the state from November 27 to administer the vaccines.
He stated that the health workers would be taking the vaccines to churches, mosques and schools in all communities across the state in order for it to be accessible to those who need it.
He added that the goal of the campaign is to ensure that every child that is eligible receives the vaccine, such that by 2023 when the campaign would be organised again, the state would have been measles-free.
Igwele noted that measles is very contagious which is worsened by any clustered environment and poverty, adding that it has no cure and should be prevented by a responsible government by any means possible.
He said symptoms of measles infection include high fever, conjunctivitis, runny nose, diarrhea, pneumonia and rashes, adding that a patient can infect between four and 18 people up to four days after the rash has disappeared.
The Health Commissioner also revealed that he received a commendation from the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire, who praised the Bayelsa State Ministry of Health’s effort to improve health care in the state.
In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr. Wisdom Sawyer, encouraged Bayelsans to come out in their numbers to get vaccinated against the measles disease.
He stressed that those who have taken the vaccines before might still take it again, saying it would protect them against measles, and the vaccines were properly stored using the cold chain system.
The Co-ordinator, World Health Organisation (WHO) in the state, Dr. Leonard Ughiegele, said measles is one of the five childhood killer diseases.
As a result, he said the WHO is in collaboration with the state government to ensure that no child is lost to the infection and encouraged everyone to take the campaign seriously.
The Director, Immunisation and Disease Control, Bayelsa State Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Neni Awhorabi-Oki, while speaking, said there have been several outbreaks of measles in the state this year.
She said the state had received over 376,000 doses of the vaccine which is proportional to the number of children who need them, and the campaign will end today, Wednesday.
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