The Ogun State Government has restated its commitment to improving the health of the children, just as it will always prioritise the well-being of the entire residents in the State.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Tomi Coker made this known during the flag-off ceremony for the second round of Polio Outbreak Response (OBR 2) at Ikenne Primary Health Care, Ikenne Local Government, noting that the campaign was expected to cover about 2million under five children.

Coker, in a statement signed by the Press Officer, PHCDP, Mrs. Adesola Ogunbanwo, stated that there was a need to sustain the eradication of the wild polio virus and other variants in the country, hence the implementation of the second round, recalling that the State vaccinated over 1.7 million children in the first phase in December 2022.

The Commissioner said, “Nigeria’s battle with poliomyelitis has been a huge success as there has been no recorded case of wild polio virus since 2016 in Ogun State, and to sustain this polio-free status, over 270million dose of vaccines were administered yearly in the country. However, all hands should still be on deck as we are not yet out of the wood. Our surveillance shows that there are outbreaks of the circulating vaccine variants of the poliomyelitis in some parts of the country, hence we the need to do outbreak respond in order to protect our children from the virus”.

She added that the present administration remained resolute to the wellness of the people in the State, highlighting some of its achievements in the health sector to include, continuous provision of running costs to health facilities, enrollment of over 50,000 pregnant women and children on the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, recruitment of nurses, midwives and doctors in the Primary Health Centres, among others.

In his contribution, the Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Elijah Ogunsola said the OBR exercise would commence on Saturday, January 21 to Tuesday 24, 2023, adding that it would involve house-to-house oral polio vaccination for children of ages 0-59 months, routine immunisation for children 0-2 years at health facilities, as well as health education on key household practices, advising mothers at the event to ensure that their eligible children and wards partake in the four-day programme.

In their separate goodwill messages, the Senior Field Coordinator, AFENET, Dr. Suleiman Haladu, the representative, United Nation Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Mrs. Florence Moloku and her counterpart from the National Primary health Care Development Agency, Tashikalma Hallah commended the State government for the priority given to the health of the children, which had made it to record significant success in the eradication of the polio virus, advising that the government should not relent in strengthening its borders, maintain surveillance system to report cases, fortify the nomadic communities, as well as its Routine Immunisation programme, to prevent possible importation of the virus.

Speaking on behalf of other mothers at the event, Mrs. Tracy Agu and Modinat Yinusa appreciated the government for all the numerous health interventions provided for the comfort of residents, promising to ensure that their eligible children partake in the exercise.