Expert Urges Parents To Protect Children Against Polio

Yewande-AdeshinaTHE Special Adviser to Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State governor on Public Health, Dr. Yewande Adesina, has called on parents and guardians to ensure that their children are well vaccinated against polio.

Speaking in Lagos yesterday at a  press briefing to flag-off the National Immunization Plus Days (NIPD) 2012 awareness which begins today and ends on April 3, Dr Adesina said the state government is particularly interested in the health of the children in Lagos State and is prepared to carry out any activity that would assist in achieving the highest standard of health care system.

“Polio cripples   thousands of children every year in industrialized countries. After the introduction of effective vaccines in the late 50s and early 60s, it was brought under control. This campaign is another opportunity to protect our children from diseases such as polio, tuberculosis, whooping cough, diphtheria, tetanus, measles and yellow fever.

“Today, the disease has been eliminated from most of the world and only a few countries remain polio endemic. In the past, 98 per cent of all cases were recorded in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria. This is happening despite the availability of safe and effective oral vaccine for the past 50 years,” she said.