Mr Hilary Owoedimo, Partnership Manager of Zipline in Cross River, says a child who misses immunisation today could be the source of an epidemic tomorrow.
Owoedimo said this on Tuesday during a State Review Meeting of the Zero Dose Programme with the theme: “No Mother and Child is Left Behind.”
Zipline is a logistics company that specialises in using autonomous drones to transport essential medical supplies, primarily in rural and remote areas where infrastructure challenges make conventional delivery difficult.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the zero dose programme is an initiative targeted at children between zero and five years who missed out on vaccination at some point.
It is a collaboration among Zipline, Cross River Primary Healthcare Development Agency (CRSPHCDA) and the state Ministry of Health (MOH).
It is aimed at ensuring that these children are found wherever they are, brought back to care and vaccinated.
Owoedimo said the essence of the meeting was to discuss the impact, successes and challenges encountered in the zero dose programme within the last seven to eight months.
He said, “We hope to build stronger synergies and more partnerships to ensure that more children are reached.
“Especially in the most difficult of terrains and hard-to-reach areas in Cross River.”
Speaking, the Director-General of CRSPHCDA, Dr Vivien Otu, commended Zipline for helping the state ensure that healthcare services get to the hard-to-reach areas.
Otu noted that the 24-month zero dose and Multiple Deprivation Programme was a beacon of hope for countless children and families in the state.
She said their last assessment revealed that only 54 per cent of children in the state, under five years had received their last recommended vaccination.
According to her, in a particular Local Government Area, data showed that about 65 per cent had missed vaccination at some point.
“To address this challenge, we have strengthened our healthcare workers by training 488.
“This is to improve efficiency, and we also partnered with Zipline to help us deliver vaccines and commodities to hard-to-reach areas in nine LGAs,” Otu said.
She urged the communities to take ownership of the healthcare initiatives, noting that it was critical to the state’s success and health.
Mr Henry Ayuk, the state Commissioner for Health, said the state was working to ensure closer proximity between health centres and communities by 2027. (NAN)
