Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State on Thursday, inaugurated the Edo State Task Force on Immunisation to improve the uptake and reach of immunisation activities in the state.
Inaugurating the Task force at the Edo State Government House in Benin, the governor said his administration would ensure that every child up to five years of age in the state was immunised against fatal diseases.
He said: “We are strengthening primary health care and one strategy is to get all children in the cities and hinterlands in the state immunised. In March this year, we achieved 75% immunisation coverage, but that is not up to the national average of 95%. We will institute a mechanism to reach every mother with a newborn baby to ensure that no child is left out in our immunisation campaign’’, he said.
He charged the team to live up to its responsibilities and ensure transparency and accountability in the discharge of their duties.
He also charged the team to ensure that the state achieved 100% immunisation coverage just as it has been polio free since 2009.
The committee included, Deputy Governor of the State, Hon Philip Shaibu, who will serve as Chairman of the task force, and Commissioners from the State’s ministries of Health, Information, Education, Women Affairs and Social Development and Commissioner of Police.
Meanwhile, other members were representatives from the Edo Traditional Council, religious bodies, Department of State Security, State Immunisation Office, Director of the State Primary Health Care, Rotary Club, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPCDA), World Health Organisation, UNICEF and EU-SIGN.
Hon Shiabu, Chairman of the task force, assured that the committee would fulfil its given mandate, saying that the team would work assiduously to ensure that all the negative indices in immunisation activities in the state would be rectified.
