The wife of the Lagos State Governor, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-olu, has flagged off the National Immunization Week in Lagos, with a call on parents to avail their children from age zero to five years of polio vaccines between May 3 and May 6.
At the kickoff ceremony at the Lagos House, Alausa, Dr Sanwo-olu, said the state government remains committed to ensuring no child in Lagos dies of any disease that can be prevented by immunization.
The theme, Humanly Possible, Saving Lives Through Immunization, challenges us to do everything we have power to ensure again, no child suffers or dies from a disease. We have the tools and knowledge to prevent. In line with the vision of our governor, young governor, Mr. Mabajidio Nishola, and the Teams Plus agenda, it prioritizes health and health development.
The state remains resolute, and ” I keep on repeating it, no child should be left behind “
“We will keep on talking to them to ensure that all the children that have missed out are covered. We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again. We will find them.
Let us make a collective pledge today that no child in Lagos will suffer from a disease we can prevent, that we will reach the unreached, that we will end polio once and for all. Like I said, we will find them. We will advocate continuously, update the community regularly.
She commended the Commissioner of Youth for supporting the young ones by ensuring that the immunization campaign achieved the desired results.
Quoting the youth leader, “He told us 60% of our community is made up of youth.
He reminded us, of no youth, no nation. No nation, no youth. The work is now being passed down to our youth”. She said
They have to continue campaigning so that we can save the young ones out there.
According to her, “From Saturday, May 3rd to Tuesday, May 6th, 2025, the leg of state, in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency and our development partners, will roll out the National Immunization Plus Games. Children aged 0 to 59 months at 0 to 5 years will receive two doses of oral polio vaccine, free of charge.”
She urged Community and religious leaders as well as the Media to champion the course of the advocacy to correct all misinformation and myths about vaccines, noting that “it is safe.
We will keep on talking to them to ensure that all the children that have missed out are covered. We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again. We will find them.
Let us make a collective pledge today that no child in Lagos will suffer from a disease we can prevent, that we will reach the unreached, that we will end polio once and for all. Like I said, we will find them. We will advocate continuously, update the community regularly.
The Chief of the UNICEF Field Office for Southwest Nigeria, Ms Celine Lafoucriere, maintained that over two million children in Nigeria are still not immunized which pose threats to their well-being and that of others in their communities, hence the need for aggressive awareness to reduce Polio to ground zero, noting that oral polio vaccine prevent over twenty four million cases of paralysis.
On his part, Director Health Education and Information, Lagos State Health District 1, Mr Olawole Abiola, appealed to parents especially mothers to ensure their children take the full doses of immunization saying one off vaccination is not good enough, with emphasis that the many myths around vaccines are not true and children should not be deprived of their fundamental human rights.
High point of the event was the commemoration immunization walk from the office of the first lady at Alausa to Ikeja with health workers displaying placards with the immunization week theme Immunization for all is humanly possible, for every child: complete vaccination.