The Anambra State Government, through the state Ministry of Health, yesterday made a target of 2.7 million to cover children less than five years and women of child bearing age, for immunisation during this year’s second phase of National Immunisation Plus Days taking off tomorrow in all parts of the state.

Briefing journalists at his office in Awka, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Josephat Akabuike, in giving the breakdown said Governor Willie Obiano, would flag off the four-day exercise at Umunachi Health Center in Dunukofia Local Government Area.

According to the commissioner, the exercise would include house-to-house visits by health officials as well as immunisation which would take place in all health centers and designated sites in all the 177 communities in the state, including churches, mosques, motor parks and markets.

He noted that the exercise would entail administration of two drops of potent oral polio vaccine and scaling up delivery of the routine immunisation antigens and other child survival interventions.

The commissioner also said that governor Obiano had already given each of the 37 General Hospitals in the state N500000 for drug revolving programme with the sole aim of ensuring adequate and uninterrupted drug supply in all parts of the state.

He added that there were plans to increase the allocation to N1 million to each of the hospitals.

Akabuike said: “The programme would entail building comprehensive drug chains in the hospitals to discourage the out-of-stock syndrome in all the health facilities in the state.

“As part of efforts to ensure that health care services reached all parts of the state unhindered, the governor has signed into law the Primary Healthcare Agency bill and set up a board for the agency for effective operation.

“Government has also acquired six boat ambulances and 17 flying boats to enhance the operations of primary health care delivery in the riverine areas of the state.”

From the breakdown made available to Journalists, the state is targeting 1.06 million children of zero -59 months and 211,993 children less than one year for the exercise.

Also, 1.17 million women of child bearing age and 264,991 pregnant women are to benefit from the exercise.

The commissioner further called on parents to use the opportunity of the immunisation days to ensure that their children were immunised, warning against going to chemist shops to immunise children because the potency of drugs used in those chemists could not be guaranteed.

•Photo shows Obiano

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