World Immunisation Week: Enugu Govt. embarks on massive awareness creation on vaccination
The Enugu State Government says it has commenced massive sensitisation and awareness of residents of the state on numerous benefits in actively participating in vaccination.
Dr George Ugwu, the Executive Secretary, Enugu State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ENS-PHCDA), disclosed this at a press briefing to commemorate the World Immunisation Week in the state on Friday in Enugu.
The theme of 2022 World Immunisation Week is: ‘Long Life for All”.
Ugwu said the Agency, its parent ministry, health development partners and others have embarked on far-reaching awareness using various avenues to propagate the “good gospel of vaccination acceptance and its overwhelming benefits to the health of all”.
He said that the Agency and its partners embarked on road shows to sensitise residents on benefits of vaccination.
Ugwu also revealed that the Agency have made advocacy visits to strategic traditional/community leaders and taken slots in the mass media (radio and television) to herald numerous benefits of vaccination.
He said: “The essence of this statewide and multiple platforms sensitization is meant to reawaken the consciousness of the residents to the benefits of subscribing to numerous vaccination programmes ongoing in the state.
“Vaccination or immunization remains the most cost effective way of ensuring health for all and long life for all.
“It is also the ideal way for effective disease prevention and reducing the overall health burden of the state, community and family.
“It is effective, safe and secured; we have trained and retrained health workers that are professionals in administering these vaccines.
“We also receive the vaccine in a safe way, highly regulated by NAFDAC, have high-power solar refrigerators to store them and have ideal vaccine cool-packs to move them to all nooks and crannies during the period of mass vaccination in the state”.
He lauded Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for supporting the Agency all the way leading to resounding successes in all its vaccination programmes and the Agency not missing any intervention or routine vaccination exercise in the country and state.
“We have got tremendous support from our health-loving governor for all our vaccination programmes. Recently in March, the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) sent the governor a commendation letter for a huge success of the vaccination in February.
“Apart from the routine mobile immunisation; the over 600 immunisation points in the state have been running without hitch and fulfilling the vaccination needs of residents even to the remotest neighbourhood in the state.
“The state has ensured that its routine vaccination is ongoing; helped to kick out polio as well as ensuring regular suspected outbreak responses so that we continue to remain polio-free in the state and country.
“We have successfully added more vaccines in the number of our routine vaccines, which includes; Meningitis A vaccine and 2nd dose measles vaccine to give additional and rounded protection to all children within the state.
“ln March, 2021, we rolled out COVID-19 vaccination and we are pushing ahead with it without a hitch and the vaccine has not had any adverse effect on any one in the state,” he said.
Ugwu thanked the NPHCDA, UNICEF, WHO, state ministry of Education, traditional/community leaders, the media, parents, mothers and caregivers for the support given to ENS-PHCDA that ensured continued vaccination successes in the state.
The World Immunisation Week started on April 24 and would run till April 30. The ENSPHCDA is planning to further extend its massive awareness on vaccination to additional two weeks. (NAN)
