In a bid to eradicate polio along border areas of Ogun and Lagos, the two States are strategising, so as to come up with better ways of tackling the Child Crippling Disease.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting in Abeokuta, representatives of the two states, World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nation Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), emphasised the need to make deliberate efforts to accommodate every child in the coming Response Campaign that would take place at the border towns and hard to reach areas.
In his welcome address, the Executive Secretary, Ogun State Primary Healthcare Development Board, Dr. Elijah Ogunsola, stated that the objective of the synchronisation meeting was to improve on Polio eradication efforts of the two states, urging parents and guardians to make their children available during the campaign.
Also speaking, the WHO Zonal Coordinator, Lagos and Ogun States, Dr. Rosemary Onyibe, said all stakeholders have roles to play in the war against Polio, adding that the onus was on all to plan assiduously to ensure every child was immunised.
On her part, UNICEF Specialist, Dr. Hayon Nam, added that the Outbreak Response (OBR) Campaign was the first in many years in Southwest Nigeria, urging participants to seize the opportunity of the campaign to root out the virus in the States.
In his remark, the Ogun State Coordinator, WHO, Dr. Sunday Abidoye said, the major challenge was, awkward movement of teams in the States without proper planning, thereby missing out children in hard to reach areas, adding that the meeting would ensure synergy between ward Vocal Persons working in border areas.
The Ogun State Coordinator, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Olatunde Adebiyi, charged participants to be up and doing in discharging their duties, while the Director, Medical Service and Disease Control, Lagos, Dr. Eniola Erinosho, said stakeholders should be accountable in their effort to eradicate polio, noting that both states shared borders in about 10 Local Government Areas.
Part of the recommendations at the end of the meeting are; to target older settlement for ends process monitoring, border communities should be assessed for quality activities, coverage under 90 percent should be redone all together, as well as ensure that border activities plan Template was filled in triplicate for both States before submission.
