The Anambra State government says it will commence the first round of the National Immunisation Plus Days against the circulating Polio Virus Type-2 infection on May 3.

Chisom Uchem, the executive secretary, Anambra State Primary Health Care Development Agency (ASPHCDA), announced this at a stakeholders meeting on Tuesday in Awka.

Ms Uchem, represented by Ngozi Okeke, director of community health services at ASPHCDA, said children from zero to 59 months would be immunised with the Novel Oral Polio Vaccines (NOPV).

She described the NOPV as a vaccine that immunes children against poliomyelitis, a deadly childhood disease that could cripple a child or even kill the victim.

“The polio campaign will run from May 3 to May 6 at healthcare centres, house-to-house, community centres, schools, markets, motor parks, mosques, churches and other designated posts,” she said.

The Anambra State coordinator of the World Health Organisation, Bonos Mohammed, emphasised that religious and community leaders play a crucial role in mobilising the public and preventing vaccine hesitancy.

“This is the final opportunity to vaccinate children against polio in Nigeria. Our goal is to ensure that every child receives the vaccine to achieve herd immunity against the virus,” he said.

In her remarks, the state health educator, Uju Onwuegbuzina, called on parents and caregivers to ensure their children and wards were brought forward for immunisation.

Ms Onwuegbuzina said vaccination officers had been trained and deployed across the state for effective mobilisation and compliance.

Some representatives of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Civil Society Organisations, the Ministry of Education, and traditional and community leaders pledged their support to the campaign.

(NAN)