WHO, UNICEF review immunization coverage in Bayelsa

The World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and other health partners have taken a critical review of immunization coverage in Bayelsa State.

The international health partners took interest in Bayelsa following last reports that showed poor immunization coverage in the state.

Speaking at the review meeting of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) in Yenagoa, the state capital, the Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu, expressed happiness that the intervention was yielding expected results.

Etebu said the state made quantum leap and improved tremendously in immunization coverage.

He said reports on poor coverage  led to the establishment of the State Emergency Routine Immunization Coordinating Center (SERICC), in all poor performing state of the federation including Bayelsa.

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He said the report showed that Bayelsa had a low coverage area of 47 per cent and was the only state in the South-South that was poorly performing.

Etebu said the development made Bayelsa the only state, where SERICC was established in the region.

He commended the Bayelsa state team for reversing the trend in a very short time and thanked WHO and UNICEF for their funding and commitment

He said: “To this end, therefore, the makeover, outfitting and bequeathing of the Bayelsa State Emergency Routine Immunization Coordinating Center, by the World Health Organization (WHO), is a testimonial in itself and also a commitment to ridding the state of the vestiges of negative immunization indices.

In his remark, Director, Immunization and Disease Control, Bayelsa State Primary Health,  Dr. Tarimobowei Egberipou, acknowledged the success of the state within nine months.

He said, “So, to improve on this indices , the center was created and since the center was created about a year ago, we made quantum leap of about 15 per cent increment every quarter.

“Presently, the coverage rate for the state is about 68 per cent and we are looking at the last quarter to make it 80 per cent, which is the coverage rate everywhere in the world.

“So, for Bayelsa State to get an increase of 15 per cent every quarter shows you the amount of work, funding and strategies that have gone to reverse the trend that took over five years to get into. We have practically reverse it in nine month”.

The state Coordinator, WHO, Dr. Edmund Egbe, called for more counterpart funding from the state government, saying that funding had been a major issue in the campaign.