Cross River state government has kicked off the Outbreak Response Round Two (OBR 2) campaign so as to vaccinate nine hundred thousand (900,000) children against polio disease.
The programme, which is run by the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, CR-PHCDA, our reporter gathered, is for children who are between the ages of fifteen and below, and is scheduled to take place across the State.
Speaking in Calabar during the event to flag off the campaign, wife of Cross the Cross River State governor, Dr. Mrs. Linda Ayade, said the vaccination would have children in the said age category to live healthier.
She saud” “We are targeting about nine hundred thousand children who are to be vaccinated in the state. We are told that Cross River State and Benue has shown the signs of having the virus.
“Who knows where all of us could have been without vaccination.”
In her remarks, the Director-General, CR- PHCDA, Dr. Janet Ekpeyong, urged parents residing in the State to make their children available for the vaccination to avoid being paralyzed.
“We are asking all parents to notify us of any child, 15 years and below, with signs of paralyses.
“We are going to use the campaign to ensure that any child that is less than 15 years is vaccinated especially those that shows signs of paralysis of lower limbs. Please, report such cases to the appropriate quarters.
“To tell you how committed we are in our campaign, we have gone to the extent of fraternizing with militants to enable us administer polio vaccines to children in the riverine communities.
Also speaking, Chairman, Cross River State Women Medical Doctors, Vivian Mesembe Otu, saud that about 50 percent of children in the State had been vaccinated but that statistics available indicated lots of children were yet to be vaccinated with polo vaccine
