Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, on Friday, inaugurated the State Task Force on immunisation and primary healthcare, saying the exercise forms a part of his administration’s efforts to stamp out polio and strengthen access to primary healthcare.

“The presence of an active State Task Force on Immunisation is a prerequisite for quality polio campaigns and routine immunisation services.

“The role of the Task Force amongst others is to coordinate/supervise all Polio Eradication Initiatives (PEI) activities in particular and Primary Health Care in general in line with recommendations from the State Technical Team,” AbdulRazaq said in an address inaugurating the Task Force headed by Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi.

“It is also to be noted that one of the requirements for the full implementation of Primary Health Care Under One Roof (PHCUOR) in the State is the functionality of the State Task Force especially with the prevailing outbreak of vaccine-preventable poliomyelitis in the state.”

He urged members of the Task Force to work closely with Alabi to deliver quality primary healthcare to the people of Kwara.

Alabi, for his part, commended the Governor for his leadership which has raised the quality and depth of healthcare services available to Kwarans.

“We appreciate Your Excellency for the trust reposed in us and we pledge to work very hard to fulfil the expectations of our people to improve healthcare services so that Kwara can regain its leadership position in the scheme of things.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, Dr Rhoda Ajiboye, said the inauguration was in line with the Abuja Commitment by all the state governments to support polio eradication and routine immunisation in the country.

“This Task Force will provide political support and mobilise necessary resources for the implementation of both routine and supplemental immunisation activities in the state,” she said.

AbdulRazaq had recently paid counterpart funds to strengthen polio immunisation in the state following the outbreak in January 2019 of some vaccine-derived polio cases. He had also recently paid counterpart funds to facilitate free malaria treatment, nutrition, and other basic healthcare services.

Membership of the Task Force include the Deputy Governor (Chairman); Chairman House Committee on Health; Representative of the Wife of the Governor; Representative of the Ministry of Health; Representative of the Ministry of Finance; Representative of the Ministry of Information; Representative of the Ministry of Environment; Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA); Directors of the SPHCDA; State Immunisation Officer; Chairman of Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON); Representative of Ministry of Women Affairs;

Representative of Ministry of Education; and representatives police, army, artisans, civil society organisations and religious bodies, among others.

•PHOTO: Chief of Staff, Kwara State Government House, Aminu Logun; Chairman, Kwara State House of Assembly Committee on Health and Environment, Hon. Razaq Owolabi; Deputy Governor and Chairman, Kwara State Task Force on Immunisation and Primary Health Care, Kayode Alabi; Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq; and Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon. Saliu Danladi; during the inauguration of the immunisation taskforce at the Kwara State Government House, Ilorin, the state capital, on Friday.

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