By Praise Chinecherem
Anambra State Government, through the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (ANSPHCDA) has commenced second phase of the integrated measles immunization campaign, targeted at covering four local government areas affected by the flood.
The second phase which started on the 16th of November, 2024, and will end on the 26th of November, covers Anambra East, Anambra West, Ogbaru and Ayamelum LGAs.
The campaign is a bi-annual event, implemented by 24 states of the federation, targeted at immunizing children nine to fifty-nine months with a potent measles vaccine.
Speaking with reporters in Awka, State Immunization Officer, SIO, Anambra State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Mrs Edith Onwuka said during the pre-event planning and other pre-implementation activities, the agency proactively divided the LGAs into two based on their peculiarities.
According to her, Anambra East, Anambra West, Ogbaru, and Ayamelum, which have flooding challenges that limit accessibility to the hard-to-reach areas, were set for later, while the campaign started with the other 17 LGAs.
Onwuka revealed that the campaign started with the other 17 LGAs on the 6th of November and ended on the 17th November, and recorded a huge success as no LGA scored below 95 percent in the immunization coverage.
“Although we had some challenges which included vaccine rejection and non-compliance due to beliefs and misconceptions, logistics issues, and inadequate manpower, we were able to surmount them.
“Also, the campaign was successful in phase one because qualified health workers were used,” she said.
Emphasizing that the goal of the state was to reach every eligible child irrespective of where they are in the state, the ANSPHCDA SIO said the second phase covering the four remaining LGAs started on Saturday 16th, and will end on the 26th of November.
She said the LGAs are regarded as hard-to-reach areas and provisions have been made for the immunization teams to be able to access the areas.
On suspected cases of measles reported in Awka North LGA where the vaccination was just concluded, Onwuka noted that some of the suspected cases may not be, informing that many illnesses manifest the same symptoms as measles but when subjected to laboratory testing, they come out negative for measles.
She however said the state Disease Surveillance will be alerted to do case investigation and collect samples, assuring that if the cases are confirmed, a mop-up exercise will take place to address the gap.
She further explained that taking measles immunization does not mean that children may not have symptoms of measles, but said it will ensure that the disease does not pose any danger
According to her, the immunization is done annually to give the communities herd immunity to ward off sicknesses when they come.
She urged parents to always make their children available for immunization activities as they are for their own benefit.
