The Benue State government has announced that it has released N39 million to fight the yellow fever illness spreading across the state and completion of the office complex of the State Primary Healthcare Board, Makurdi, Nature News gathered.
This disclosure was made by the governor, Samuel Ortom, at the flag- off of the yellow fever vaccination campaign at IBB Square, Makurdi on Tuesday, while calling for commitment from all partners and stakeholders for the scheme to be successful in the state.
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He said the completion of the permanent site of the state’s primary healthcare board will motivate staff and ensure quality delivery of health care services to tackle emerging illnesses in the state.
Executive Secretary of the State Primary Health Care Board, Dr. Bem Ageda, said the board is prepared to implement the purpose of the campaign with 1,586 teams to vaccinate over 4 million people in the 243 wards of the state.
According to Dr. Ageda, the remaining 34 wards in Vandeikya, Ado and Oju Local Government Areas were previously vaccinated during the yellow fever outbreak, disclosing that strategies adopted for the campaign include using fixed post vaccination teams, mobile teams and extra teams to cover some specially identified areas including IDPs, prisons and markets among others.
The executive secretary disclosed that state is allocated over 4 million bundled doses of yellow fever vaccines by the Federal Government for the exercise, adding that all COVID-19 protocols would be observed by the vaccination teams.
“The government counterpart funds released for this yellow fever campaign will surely support to resolve gaps for effective implementation of the campaign. There is however, still a gap of N19.9 million to be filled to enable us pay state supervisors and extra teams,” Ageda stated.