By Joke Adeniyi-Jackson
As Yellow fever vaccination ends in Kwara State, the Director of Primary Health Care (PHC), Dr. Abimbola Patience Folorunsho has identified apathy by Kwarans as setback for the exercise.
The statewide 10-day vaccination against the ailment was concluded on Tuesday while a mop up exercise conducted for three days ended on Friday.
Giving assessment of the programme in a telephone chat with Pilot Health at the weekend, Folorunsho decried the low level of interest shown by Kwara residents towards the vaccination exercise.
She expressed satisfaction over the high turn out of children within the age range of 9months to 5 years for the immunisation, lamenting that a high percentage of people aged 16 to 45 shunned the health programme.
“The vaccination was for 10 days and we had three days for the mop up exercise; making it 13 days for the programme,” she explained.
The expert further explained that the vaccination could not be conducted from house to house because of the nature of the vaccine.
“The vaccine is not meant to taken from house to house because they are injectables, but people expected us to bring it to their doorsteps to be vaccinated,” she added.
She, however disclosed that the exercise was taken to religious houses while clerics also helped in enlightenment of members of their congregations on the programme.
“Despite the enlightenment and announcement that the vaccination is free, many people still did not avail themselves of the programme because of some misgivings.
” There were cases of mothers whose age fall within the targeted population, who only bring their children for the exercise but refused to be vaccinated,” Folorunsho noted.
She further said that immunisation against measles for children will soon commence in the state, appealing to mothers to ensure that their kids are vaccinated against childhood diseases.
