Gov. Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun on Monday inaugurated the “Outbreak Response to Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio“ for children in the state.
Speaking during the inauguration in Osogbo, Oyetola said that the exercise was to prevent the spread of “Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio“.
He said that the vaccine would be given to children between ages of 0-59 months.
He said the exercise would be for a period of four days, while there would be mop up for two days to cover the entire state.
He advised parents and guardians to take maximum advantage of the initiative.
“Today, we are widening the healthcare delivery net by flagging off the outbreak response to “Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio“ to give our children good health attention and put the minds of their parents at rest.
“You will all recall that Nigeria was confirmed to be polio free on Aug. 25, 2020 with zero case of the wild poliovirus.
“The nation was the last polio endemic country in Africa and was officially certified free from polio after making three consecutive years since the last case of wild polio had been identified.
“What we are trying to prevent today is “Circulating Vaccine Derived Polio“ in Osun.
“I am, therefore, appealing to mothers not to be afraid of the exercise.
“Mothers should bring their children for vaccination so that the health of their children can be boosted and guaranteed.
“This exercise is proactively designed to produce an army of healthy children who will inherit and sustain our development agenda and be the face of the Osun of our dream,” the governor said.
Earlier, the Chairman, Osun State Primary Health Care Development Board, Leke Ogunsola, applauded Oyetola’s administration for taking the health and general wellbeing of the citizens to the front burner.
He said his board has been working hard to ensure smooth delivery of immunisation to all households across the nooks and crannies of the state.
Also speaking, the State Coordinator, National Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr Modupeola Oyesiji, praised the governor for his prompt response to health=related matters.
The Representative of World Health Organisation (WHO), Dr Bello Hammed, commended the governor for being faithful to his electoral promises, particularly for allocating the recommended percentage of funds to the health sector in the 2022 budget.
