Margibi County – The Child Survivor Focus Person at the Margibi County Health Team, Mr. Joseph M. Govergo has underscored the need for pregnant women and children to take advantage of the Ministry of Health routine immunizations across the country.
According to Mr. Govergo, the MOH routine immunization (schedule vaccines) is a vaccine given to children and women to prevent childhood ailment as well other health complications for women of child bearing ages.
He said, the MOH vaccines are administered at various hospitals and health centers across the country, adding that the vaccines are approved by the ministry of Health and the World Health Organization and are safe and administered free of charge.
He named, polio vaccine, pentavalence vaccine, haemophalus influential type b vaccine, diphtheria, pertussis/whooping cough, hepatitis B, Measles, yellow fever vaccine, BCG-TB vaccine,among others as some of the Ministry of Health routine vaccines that are made available at health centers across the country.
Mr. Govergo made the call recently when he appeared live on a local radio station regular health program “Radio Joy Africa Health Talk”.
He pointed out further that those tetanus toxic vaccines are given to pregnant women in order to prevent them against tetanus while another vaccine is also given to children at the age of nine months to prevent them from contracting the measles disease.
He further mentioned another type of vaccines called BCG and Polio Zero which he said are given to children right after birth and is placed specifically on the right arm of the child.
The Margibi County Child Survivor focus person indicated that when the BCG and Polio Zero vaccines are given to the child, it causes sore that soon get heal by itself but cautioned babies mothers not to apply any medicinal portion to such sore when it appears on a child.
According to him the appearance of the sore on children who take these vaccines is only an indication that the vaccine is potent or effective enough.
He said the polio vaccines are administered in phases ranging from what he called polio one which is administered along with penta one, router one and Pneumococcus Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) one to a child at the age of six weeks, polio two which is given at the age of ten weeks with penta two, router two and PCV two, polio three which is also administered along with penta three, router three and PCV three at are given to children age fourteen weeks respectively.
Meanwhile, the Margibi County Health Child Survivor Focus Person is encouraging all baby mothers, caretakers to allow their children go through the Ministry of Health routine vaccines.
Report by: Patrick C.M. Kollie