By Magnus Chukwudi, Port Harcourt<\/p>\n
The First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has reiterated her commitment to expanding vaccine coverage nationwide, declaring that the ongoing Measles and Rubella vaccination campaign in Rivers State will surpass all previous records in scope and success.<\/p>\n
Speaking through the wife of the Rivers State Governor, Lady Valerie Siminalayi Fubara, Senator Tinubu made this statement during the flag-off ceremony of the Measles, Rubella, and HPV Vaccine Sensitisation Campaign, organised under the Renewed Hope Initiative (RHI) at the Banquet Hall, Government House, Port Harcourt yesterday.<\/p>\n
The campaign, implemented by the RHI in collaboration with the Rivers State Primary Healthcare Management Board, C-WINS, and international partners including WHO, UNICEF, Gavi, and Vaccine Alliance, aims to protect millions of children and women from preventable diseases.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will leave no stone unturned to ensure that the measles vaccine coverage achieved through this campaign exceeds that of the past,\u201d Senator Tinubu affirmed. \u201cThrough technical and financial support, this partnership will ensure that by February, 2026, well-trained staff are deployed across communities to vaccinate all eligible children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rivers State is among the Fourth Stream of Phase One states participating in Africa\u2019s largest-ever health initiative, targeting over 106 million Nigerian children for vaccination against Measles, Rubella, Polio, and HPV. The local rollout is expected to commence in February, 2026, reaching children aged 9 months to 14 years across all 23 local government areas.<\/p>\n
Senator Tinubu highlighted the risks of the targeted diseases, describing Measles and Rubella as \u201chighly contagious and potentially deadly,\u201d noting that Rubella can cause severe complications for unborn babies, if contracted by pregnant women.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best way to prevent both diseases remains vaccination,\u201d she emphasised.<\/p>\n
Narrowing down to efforts by the Rivers State Ministry of Health, the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, and the State Task Force on Primary Healthcare, led by Deputy Governor, Prof. Ngozi Nma Odu, she noted how instrumental it has been in ensuring comprehensive outreach through an inter-sectoral approach involving education, women affairs, information ministries, traditional and religious leaders, and the security sector.<\/p>\n
Senator Tinubu urged parents and caregivers to cooperate fully with health workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Measles-Rubella vaccine is safe, effective, and free in all our health centres. Please, ensure your children are vaccinated at the right time to protect them from these deadly infections.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet us all play our part in spreading awareness. Together, we can safeguard the health and future of our children,\u201d she said, before formally declaring the sensitisation programme open.<\/p>\n
In her goodwill message, Deputy Governor, Prof. Ngozi Nma Odu, commended the Renewed Hope Initiative for its sustained impact in Rivers State, noting that the Measles, Rubella, and HPV Sensitisation Programme marks \u201ca significant step in promoting public health awareness, particularly among women and children.\u201d<\/p>\n
She highlighted the particular benefit to the girl-child through HPV vaccination, calling it \u201can investment in their future health and empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Rivers State Coordinator of WHO, Prof. Giwa Abdulganiyu, praised the collaboration between RHI and the State Government, describing the campaign as \u201ca worthy step in the right direction,\u201d and reaffirmed WHO\u2019s continued partnership in achieving health for all.<\/p>\n
Earlier, the RHI Rivers State Coordinator, Mrs. Tonye Briggs-Oniyide, welcomed guests, and reaffirmed the initiative\u2019s goal of reducing the incidence of Measles and Rubella in the state.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese diseases have the potential to cause emergencies and great distress in families. Today\u2019s flag-off represents our collective determination to raise awareness and prevent such tragedies,\u201d she added. ###.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Magnus Chukwudi, Port Harcourt The First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has reiterated her commitment to expanding vaccine coverage nationwide, declaring that the ongoing Measles and Rubella vaccination campaign in Rivers State will surpass all previous records in scope and success. Speaking through the wife of the Rivers State […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2522,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1026,1475,1254,4581,842,1936,4989,4773],"class_list":["post-7892","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-news","tag-campaign","tag-collective","tag-determination","tag-distress","tag-initiative","tag-reaffirmed","tag-rubella","tag-vaccination"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7892","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7892"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7892\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7893,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7892\/revisions\/7893"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2522"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7892"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7892"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7892"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}