The World Health Organisation (WHO) has concluded plans to immunise nearly a million children in Adamawa State against malaria.
The organisation disclosed on Wednesday that it had procured 4.4 million doses of anti-malaria vaccine to protect 977,843 Adamawa children under five years old against malaria parasites.
The Malaria Program Officer of WHO, Dr IniAbasi Nglass who disclosed the plan during a workshop in Yola on Wednesday, said more than 9,000 volunteers had been trained to implement the Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) program across the 21 local government areas of Adamawa State.
Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention is described as an effective intervention to prevent malaria in those most vulnerable to the disease’s effects, involving administering monthly doses of antimalarial drugs to children aged 3-59 months during peak malaria transmission season.
The State Programme Manager, Adamawa State Malaria Elimination Programme, Benjamin Gubi, said the trained personnel would be deployed in teams for the house-to-house SMC vaccination campaign.
He explained that it is a four-course campaign by which every child is to be immunised once every month for the next four months: June, July, August and September.
“You may observe that the 4.4 million doses of vaccine will go more than four doses to the targeted 977843 children; this is because of certain expectations, including the likelihood of repeat doses for children who for example vomit a dose administered on them,” he explained.
He added that, in effect, over a million children may eventually be covered in the anti-malaria campaign in Adamawa State.