LAGOS FIRST LADY KICKS OFF INTEGRATED MEASLES CAMPAIGN IN KOSOFE AS MEASLES VACCINATION COMMENCES ACROSS THE STATE

* Moyosore Ogunlewe urges Parents to get their kids vaccinated at the Primary Health Care Centres

The Integrated Measles vaccination exercise for children between the age of 9 to 59 months in Lagos State was on Thursday Kicked off in Kosofe Local Government by the wife of the Lagos State Governor Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu. 

The Kick-off ceremony heralding the commencement of the vaccination exercise today across 20 local government and 37 LCDAs  of the State was hosted by the executive chairman of Kosofe Local Government, Barrister Moyosore Ogunlewe.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Sanwo- Olu explained that the campaign which used to take place every three years was geared towards preventing measles infection among children between the ages of 9 to 5 years and would commence on Friday June 17 and end on July 4 .

The Lagos first Lady noted that the disease is highly communicable as most children contact it from other children  down with fever-related illnesses.

And while stating that the spread of measles could be prevented and that an estimated 4.7 million children would be vaccinated in the ongoing exercise, she bemoaned the dearth of nurses and doctors in the country.

She, therefore, appealed to both young men and women to volunteer and be trained in the act of administering vaccination to young children within the duration of the program.

“A lot have been said about measles. It is highly contagious and vaccine preventable. Most of our children catch the illness from children who have high fever.

“Prevention is better than cure. The measles campaign is supplementary. It is done every 3 years. Unfortunately most of doctors and nurses have traveled out of Nigeria.

“If you are a youth, it will be nice if you volunteer yourself. You will be trained towards this exercise. Some were already recruited and more will still be recruited.

“The measles campaign will be integrated with other services like polio, vitamin A…and the covid 19 vaccines for persons above 18 free of charge across all local government areas in the state.

“All hands must be on deck to ensure a successful out come in all the Local Government and 37 LCDA. We seek community participation from traditional and religious stakeholders": Dr. Sanwo-Olu said

Earlier, in his welcome address, the executive chairman of Kosofe Local Government, Barrister Moyosore Ogunlewe appealed to parents in the Local Government to take advantage of the measles vaccination exercise by taking their children within the age bracket of 9 to 59 months to any of the 3 Primary Health Care Centres in the Local  government area for vaccination.

The council chairman while noting the prevalence of measle infection among children under the age of five, expressed the commitment of his administration to complement efforts of the state government in tackling and preventing its occurrence.

"Measles is an acute viral respiratory illness. Characterized by a prodrome of fever, cough, coryza, highly contagious followed by a maculopapular rash. The initial infection could come with severe complications or even death.

"Vaccines are cost-effective, safe and significant means to prevent the majority of childhood illnesses. This integrated campaign will deliver other antigens which include all routine vaccines, Vitamin A supplementation and Covid - 19 vaccination. 

"This Administration sees health as wealth and will always be in support of all aspects be it preventive, curative or rehabilitative. I thereby implore everyone to use our facilities, Ogudu PHC Oworo PHC and Mende PHC.

"Today's memorable event is so unique in that it shows the high premium the state government places on health care delivery. Our role as the third tier of government is to reciprocate by giving untiring efforts.

"I want to implore all our mothers here, CDC, CDA and all residents of Kosofe local government to take advantage of this campaign by allowing eligible children ( between 9 months and 59months) to be immunized against measles irrespective of their status. All other Routine immunization antigens are inclusive and also covid19 vaccine for people of 18 years above": he said.

The Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who was represented at the event by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health Dr. Olusegun Ogboye in his address stated that that no fewer than five million children would be immunised during the 16-day campaign.

He said: “The Lagos State Government, in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and other development partners, will be conducting an Integrated Measles Campaign across all 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs in the State in line with the National Measles Elimination Strategic Plan 2018-2028”.

Abayomi noted that the measles vaccination campaign will be integrated with other primary healthcare services and routine immunisation to improve efficiency and effectiveness, especially at the primary healthcare level, while also providing an opportunity for parents and caregivers to access multiple services at the same time.

“The measles vaccine will be provided to children aged nine to 59 months with Vitamin A supplements for children aged six to 59 months. Routine immunisation services will be available from birth up to 23 months, while COVID vaccination will also be available for adults who are 18 years and above as part of our integrated vaccination campaign approach”, he said.  

Explaining that the campaign will be conducted for eight days each in two streams consisting of 10 LGAs and appurtenance LCDAs per stream, Prof. Abayomi said the method would be adopted to maximise resources and ensure that all the eligible members of the population are reached during the campaign.

The Commissioner said, “The first stream will commence on the Friday 17th to Friday 24th of June, 2022, and the participating LGAs are Agege, Ajeromi, Alimosho, Amuwo-Odofin, Badagry, Ibeju, Kosofe, Lagos Mainland, Lagos Island and Surulere”.

“The second stream will start on Monday 27th of June to Monday 4th of July, 2022, and the remaining LGAs and their appurtenance LCDAs - Apapa, Epe, Eti-Osa, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikeja, Mushin, Oshodi-Isolo, Ojo and Somolu will be covered”, he stated.

While appealing to parents and caregivers to ensure that the target population of children in Lagos receive the measles vaccine and other routine immunisation services during the campaign, Prof. Abayomi noted that the responsibility of vaccinating all eligible children against measles is not that of parents and caregivers alone.

The Commissioner said that everybody, including religious, community and political leaders, have to ensure that children are protected against preventable childhood diseases.

The representatives of World Health Organisation (WHO) Dr. Ahmed Khedr and UNICEF Dr. Eduardo Celedes Blanco expressed great satisfaction with the efforts of the Lagos State government in curbing the disease.