Press Releases

Lagos Set Stage for 2nd Round of National Immunization Plus Days

Feb 19, 2008 - All hands are now on deck in Lagos State in anticipation for a successful outing for the 2nd round of the National Immunization Plus Days (NIPDs) for 2008 holding throughout the nation from 23rd to 26th February, 2008, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris has said.

Dr. Idris who stated this today while giving Lagos State statistics on the first round of the immunization which was held from 26th to 29th January, 2008 while briefing the media on the NIPDs noted an improvement on the past performance but however added that indication shows that several children were missed which created the pool of susceptible children that set stage for the 4 out breaks that was recorded in the state in the last few months.

The Commissioner opined that the situation where parent or teachers refused the administration of OPV when the house- to- house team visited them negates the collective efforts towards achieving the May 29, 2008 target date set by Nigeria for the interruption of the transmission of wild polio virus.

Dr. Idris also said that a state level training has been conducted and local governments are currently training their personnel and teams according to federal guidelines at Local Government Areas as well as ward levels in preparation for this campaign.

He explained that the state social mobilization committee has met and mapped out strategies to get information down to the local level, by the deploying a motor boat to the reverine areas to mobilize the communities in the high risk reverine villages.

The Commissioner while stressing the need  to create awareness for the success of the programme opined that
the state will sponsor and field additional 10 supervisors and monitors especially in the high risk LGAs to ensure that Lagos State carries out a quality NIPDs.

Dr. Idris while acknowledging the effort of royal fathers, religions leaders, Political leaders and partner agencies like Rotary International, WHO, UNICEF and COMPASS, noted that inadequate information has been responsible for the 35% of those not immunized hence, he urged all especially the press to assist in disseminating the information for this
particular campaign as it comes at a critical moment for Lagos State, giving the recent wild polio virus outbreaks in the state.

Dr. Idris pointed out that, the First Lady of Lagos State, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola, will be on air to encourage parents and caregivers for this round, stating further that these strategies are employed to ensure that everyone is informed to enable them take advantage of the campaign to get their children immunized.

The Commissioner also urged the public to report any case of low/no coverage of house-to-house OPV administration to the ministry or to the nearest local government for necessary action.

The Commissioner said a missed child is at the risk of getting infected with WP4 with serious life-long paralytic consequence, adding that immunization is safe and free.