Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board Embarks On Free Vaccination ForYellow Fever
The Rivers State Primary Health Care Management Board says it is set to provide free vaccination against yellow fever for all residents in the state.
The Permanent Secretary of the Board, Dr. Agiriye Monima Harry disclosed this during a media sensitization on yellow fever vaccination in Port Harcourt, February 3. The vaccination, she said is for persons between 9 – 44 yrs of age.
Dr. Harry expressed appreciation to the funders and partners as well as the Rivers State government for ensuring that people are free from yellow fever, and urged persons within the targeted age to turn up for the free vaccination.
On his part, Dr. Ugheighele Leo, World Health Organization (WHO) representative, Rivers State, said yellow fever is a disease caused by a virus that is spread to humans through bites by infected mosquitos called Aedes aegypti, a different species from the anopheles mosquito that transmits malaria.
Immunization, according to the health expert, is the sure way of the disease control either in children or adult, stressing that people should not wait until they fall sick before they get vaccinated.
Dr. Leo regretted that most of the death cases recorded in this respect were due to ignorance and insisted that it is high time people began to be more proactive about their health.
“Hence, people should avail themselves of the opportunity of the free yellow fever vaccination exercise, a nationwide activity not only in Rivers State but across the states of the federation”, Dr. Leo noted.
Dr. Isaac Opurum in the department of Community Health Service said the essence of the exercise was to resist yellow fever infection and that the exercise would be in two phases. The first phase would be on February 14 – 23, while the second phase would be from February 26th – March 6, 2020.
Eleme, Emohua, Gokana, Ikwerre, Khana, Obio/Akpor, Ogu/Bolo, Omuma, Oyigbo, Port Harcourt and Tai Local Government Areas fall into the first phase, while the second phase includes Abua/Odual, Ahoada East, Ahoada West, Akuku-Toru, Andoni, Asari-Toru, Bonny, Degema, Etche, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Okrika and Opobo/Nkoro Local Govt Areas.
