The Kwara Government has planned a house-to-house polio vaccination campaign targeting children across the state from November 7 till December 5.
Prof. Nusirat Elelu, Executive Secretary of the Kwara State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, announced the exercise at a meeting of the State Task Force on Immunisation and Primary Health Care Service Delivery on Thursday.
She said the meeting reviewed routine immunisation, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week and other primary healthcare interventions.
Elelu said the second round of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week would hold in November, following the first round in February.
On routine immunisation, she said the state recorded 99 per cent completion of planned fixed sessions and 96 per cent of outreach sessions. All local government areas conducted more than 90 per cent of planned fixed sessions, while 13 LGAs exceeded 90 per cent of their planned outreach sessions.
She added that coverage for the third dose of the pentavalent vaccine, known as Penta-3, rose to 89 per cent from below 49 per cent in 2019. Penta-2 coverage stood at 85 per cent, while Penta-1 reached 93 per cent.
The pentavalent vaccine protects children against five diseases and is administered in routine immunisation. Elelu said improved vaccination coverage had contributed to a reduction in polio incidence, although uptake of the second measles vaccine dose among 15-month-old children remained a challenge in some communities across five LGAs.
She also said that more than one million children received vaccines during the May round of Supplementary Immunisation Activities.
During the last Maternal, Newborn and Child Health Week, 279,558 children received vitamin A supplements, representing 45 per cent coverage. Deworming coverage, however, stood at two per cent because of a shortage of deworming tablets.
Also Read: FG seeks traditional rulers’ support to curb polio
Elelu said the agency was exploring school-based interventions to improve deworming coverage.
She added that antenatal care attendance at primary healthcare centres increased to 173,112 between January and August, compared with 94,276 recorded throughout 2020.
Deliveries attended by skilled birth attendants at PHCs also rose to 22,095 by August, from 8,000 in the whole of 2020.
The agency has also begun targeted outreach activities in Woro community in Kaiama Local Government Area as displaced residents return. Elelu said the state would conduct cross-border vaccination to reach children in transit settlements along its boundaries.
She identified insecurity as a continuing challenge and called for local government-specific plans developed in collaboration with security agencies.
The Deputy Governor, Mr Kayode Alabi, commended health workers and development partners for improvements in immunization and primary healthcare delivery.
Alabi, who chairs the State Task Force on Immunization, urged health workers to reach every household and ensure that all eligible children received the polio vaccine.
Earlier, the World Health Organization’s representative in Kwara, Dr Emmanuel Eyitayo, called for greater efforts to reach children who had never received routine vaccines or were under-immunized.
He also stressed the need for consistent vaccine supplies, accurate data collection and use, and stronger supportive supervision. Eyitayo urged primary healthcare centres to provide reliable, safe and respectful services.
NAN
