World Polio Day: AUTH charges parents in Gwagwalada on immunisation

The University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) Gwagwalada FCT, has called on parents in Gwagwalada community to ensure that their children below the age of 5 were immunised against polio virus.

Mr Frank Omagbon, UATH Information Officer, made the call in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday in commemoration of the 2018 World Polio Day.

According to him, children needed to be immunised against the virus for adequate protection and complete eradication in the country.

“Polio vaccines have no effect on the body, so I appeal to all parents and caregivers to present their children for polio vaccination.

“The polio vaccine today is accessible to the masses even in most of the remotest locations of the world due to the efforts of World Health Organisation.

“Only the parent of a child needs to be convinced that the vaccine is necessary for the child’s good health.

“Polio is still one of the major killers of children under the ages of five years in some parts of the country,’’ he said.

The official however said that the fight against polio was not over yet, adding that the support and cooperation of everybody was desirable.

He commended efforts of parents and traditional rulers in Gwagwalada Area Council towards ensuring that children were vaccinated during immunisation exercise.

He said that the primary healthcare coordinators in the council were also committed to educating parents on the importance of polio immunisation in the rural communities.

He urged parents and caregivers to always see immunisation as the only way to end the threat of the virus in the country.

The World Polio Day is celebrated on Oct. 24 annually to create awareness towards eradication of polio virus globally.