Ondo Gets WHO’s Support To Cover MOV Gap
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says it is working with Ondo State to implement targeted interventions with the aim of reducing missed opportunities for vaccination (MOV).
The United Nations health organisation in Nigeria said this in a statement on Friday, adding that its support would help shore up vaccination coverage and give eligible children a second chance to be fully vaccinated.
According to WHO, a United Nations health organisation, the MOV became necessary because routine immunisation coverage had stagnated in Ondo over the past two years.
“Based on the trends from the Districts Health Information System (DHIS-2) platform, NICS, Multiple Indicator Coverage Survey (MICS) and Lots Quality Assurance Sampling Survey (LQAS) immunisation coverage is below the national and global acceptable level of ≥ 90 per cent.
“Following this negative fallout, the State with technical and funding support from WHO engaged and trained over 2,014 health workers – 619 vaccination personnel and 1,395 non-vaccination personnel from 200 public and private health facilities, drawn from the three priority LGAs to implement targeted activities,” the statement reads.
The WHO State Coordinator, Dr Dele David, said, “Since intervention implementation began in October 2021, a total of 2, 348 children aged 0-23 months have been identified and caught up on missed vaccinations. A screening exercise also found that 99 per cent of children referred, have completed the circle of recommended vaccinations.”
The Ondo Director of Disease Control and Immunisation, OSPHCDA, Dr Victor Adefesoye, said, “I am very much interested in this intervention, and I appreciate all stakeholders, including WHO, for ensuring that this is being successfully implemented. We can see how far we have gone and will do much better in the coming months.”
The package of interventions to reduce MOV in Ondo include provision and training on the use of job-aids, such as an immunisation wheel, posters, immunisation schedule, and referral coupons for screening of vaccination cards and referral of eligible children for vaccination which are being piloted in three Local Government Areas (LGAs) (Akure South, Odigbo, and Owo) in Ondo State.
Other strategies employed to close the coverage gap include the transmission of media channels such as bulk SMSs, Radio and TV jingles, video recordings aimed at sensitizing mothers to retain vaccination records , the statement added.
Vaccination is a key component of primary health care and an indisputable human right.
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