The Taraba State Government has embarked on a mass immunisation exercise that involves the inoculation of about 1.6 million children aged between nine months and 14 years against the measles-rubella vaccine in the state.
The 10-day activity also includes polio vaccination for children aged between zero and 59 months as well as the Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) vaccine for girls aged nine years.
Speaking during the flag-off ceremony of the campaign in Jalingo, Taraba state capital, the wife of the Governor of Taraba State, Mrs. Agyin Agbu Kefas, appealed to health workers, partners, and stakeholders to leave no child behind.
Spokesperson for the state, led by the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Bodiya Buma, Mrs. Kefas reaffirmed the state government’s commitment to safeguard children from vaccine-preventable diseases. “Let us work together hand in hand to ensure that there is no left behind child and that measles and rubella are disease of the past in Taraba State,” she asserted.
The State Executive Secretary, State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Nuhu Tukura, described measles and rubella as threats to child health but reiterated that they could be prevented by timely vaccination.
He further stated that the campaign aims at raising immunisation coverage and protecting thousands of children across all communities in the state.
Attendees such as traditional leaders, religious leaders, health authorities, and development agencies pledged their strong support to the campaign, forecasting that the campaign would significantly reduce vaccine-preventable diseases and bring Taraba closer to achieving universal immunisation coverage.
