BY DAVID ADUGE-ANI, ABUJA
The Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), through the FCT Primary Health Care Board (PHCB) is partnering with the United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and other stakeholders, to create awareness for the upcoming immunisation exercise, scheduled to hold from October 26 to November 1, 2024.
Already, the board has conducted a one-day media orientation in Abuja on Integrated Supplementary Immunisation Activities (SAIs) in the nation’s capital.
Acting Executive Secretary of the FCT Primary Healthcare Board, Dr. Ruqayya Wamakko, who spoke at the media orientation, called on media representatives to utilise their platforms to inform the public about the importance of vaccinations.
Wamakko also urged the media to take the message of immunisation to the door steps of Abuja residents to ensure that all eligible children benefit from these essential health services.
Speaking earlier, the acting director of Primary Health Care (PHC), FCT-PHCB, Dr. Nicholas Okoli, assured that the vaccines are safe, free, and readily available at all Primary Healthcare facilities throughout the territory.
Okoli noted that in the past, parents often took their children abroad for expensive vaccinations, adding, however, that vaccination is now accessible in all the health care facilities in the territory, at no cost.
The acting director noted that the vaccines are not only available, but safe, free and without side effects.
He listed the nine immunisation stages required for children, starting from birth and continuing through various milestones up to 12 months.
Highlighting the impact of vaccination, Okoli noted that diseases such as measles and polio have seen a significant decline due to the immunisation programs, even as he reiterated the need for increased awareness campaigns to further protect child health.
A representative from UNICEF’s Social and Behaviour Change department, Mrs. Margaret Soyemi, stressed the importance of immunisation in preventing childhood diseases.
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“Most diseases that lead to child mortality are preventable,” she said, urging the media to help spread the message to parents.
Soyemi said that the collaborative efforts is aimed at bolstering immunisation rates and improving overall health outcomes for children in the FCT.