Taraba begins campaign against polio, others

Taraba State Primary Health Care Development Agency (TSPHCDA), with support from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and other development partners, has embarked on polio vaccination campaign for under-five children across the state.

The exercise, which started at the weekend, will be carried out in the 16 local councils alongside ROTAvirus vaccination as well as Maternal and Neonatal Tetanus (MNTE) campaigns.

On the importance of the polio campaign at a stakeholders’ meeting in Jalingo, the Chairman, Taraba State Social Mobilisation Committee, Alhaji Tukur Abba Tukur, said the aim was to increase the immunity of children.

“Our vaccination team members shall be moving from house to house to vaccinate eligible children with two drops of potent Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV),” he said.

Appealing to parents, caregivers and stakeholders to allow their children to be vaccinated, the vaccines, Tukur stated, are safe and free.

“The overall goal is to eliminate or reduce maternal and neonatal tetanus by achieving less than one case of neonatal tetanus per 1,000 live births year globally,” he added.