From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
Gov Bello
The National Emergency Routine Immunisation Coordination Centre (NERICC), Abuja, has appealed to Kogi government to actively support the routine immunisation activities in the state.
A routine immunisation officer at NERICC, Dr Daniel Ali made the appeal while speaking to newsman after an advocacy meeting with the Chief of Staff to Kogi governor, Mr Edward Onoja, in Lokoja.
According to Ali, the centre was established two years ago when the Executive Director of National Primary Healthcare Development Agency (NPHCDA) declared a state of emergency on routine immunisation due to its poor performance in some States including Kogi.
“We have identified 18 States that have poor performance of routine immunisation.
“We are trying to see how we can support the State Routine Immunisation Coordination Centre (SERICC) to really come up in terms of performance, and Kogi is one of those states.
“This is our second meeting with the CoS to present the issues that need to be looked into and address so that Kogi can be among those performing state in immunisation.
“The issue of funding is critical to carry out all the activities involved in routine immunization, particularly to take services to remote communities.
“We want the state to also create more awareness among caregivers through the traditional institutions, and to take front seat in the leadership role,” Ali said.
“We are very glad with what we heard today from the state government and for being able to fulfil part of those promises made during the previous meeting,” Ali said.
In his response, Onoja assured the team of the government’s support and total commitment to get Kogi children immunised against killer diseases.
The chief of staff also promised to encourage the LG Administrators to be actively involved in the routine immunization services in terms of moral, manpower and financial support.
He said that the issue of inadequate manpower and welfare of health workers raised by team, would be addressed by the government.
He promised to double check the unresolved issues on the payroll with the Head of Service to those workers that are off or on.
Earlier, Dr Abubakar Yakubu, Executive Director, Kogi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (KSPHCDA), said that the essence of the meeting was to get stakeholders involved in state’s immunisation activities.
