Asaba: Delta State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Patrick Ukah, on Tuesday said that the state have not recorded any case of polio and has strong machinery in place to check any outbreak.
The Commissioner gave the assurance when he played host to a delegation of United Nations International Children Education Fund (UNICEF) in Asaba.
According to him, the state has over 200 health care centres spread over all wards in the state, even as he said that maternal and child health care have been of paramount interest to the current administration.
He assured the delegation of the state’s support for its programmes which are still in the pipeline and stressed the need for early notification to enable appropriate preparation.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation, Mr. Wilboard Ngambi, stated that concerns rose with the recent polio outbreak in Borno State axis of the country and prompted a higher need to strengthen health care system in the country.
Mr. Ngambi revealed that UNICEF had opened a new office in Port Harcourt to oversee four states which include; Enugu, Bayelsa, Akwa-Ibom and Delta, adding that the essence of coming to Delta State was to seek partnership with the state government.
“Our cardinal goals are centered on water projects, health care for children between 0-5 years which is correlation with what Delta State is doing, voluntary counseling/ testing to check mother to child transfer of HIV and polio eradication.
Our visit is to secure a partnership with the Ministry of Information in the sensitization of the public. The campaign against polio will hold in Delta State between November and December and children will be re-immunized against polio.”
Also speaking, the Director, Oversee Development Agency (ODA), Ministry of Economic Planning, Mrs. Patience Ogbewi, while expressing joy over the programme, stated that the 2016 work plan will be reviewed in the state as soon as possible.
“With the interest we have seen so far, we are nursing high hopes that the programmes will be successful and the impact will be felt,” she added.
