By Francis Sadhere, Warri

Warri South Council Area, Delta State, has flagged off vaccination  to eliminate maternal neonatal tetanus disease from the council area, calling on the women to take advantage of the flag-off of the Maternal Neonatal Tetanus Elimination (MNTE) vaccination exercise.

Wife of the Warri South Council Area, Mrs Juliet Tidi, who made this vow on Thursday during the flag off of the exercise, said immunization is the key to the prevention of Tetanus disease in Nigeria.

She said every girl and woman of child bearing age (15 – 49 years), must ensure they complete the five doses of Tetanus Diphtera (Td) at appropriate intervals.

Mrs Tidi, who thank the wife of the state governor, Dame Judith Okowa for given the council this opportunity, urged all expectant mothers in area to always go to the nearest health facility for proper health monitoring and safe delivery by trained health workers.

“Infection occurs by unhygienic methods of delivery and unhygienic umbilical cord care.

“I strongly urge our girls and women to avail themselves of this opportunity of being vaccinated during the next five days of this campaign.

“It is hoped that this exercise will go a long way in improving the overall health status of our girls and mothers in Warri South Local Government Area,” Mrs Tidi said.

On her part, the Health Educator, Warri South Council, Mrs Beatrice Onwoh, explained that the exercise which will last for five days will take place in all the health centers in the council area.

Onwoh added that  they are out to capture every girl and woman of child bearing age in the area, noting that the first dose of the tetanus vaccine  will be given to the women and will be followed by subsequent doses at a later time.

President, National Council of Women Societies of Nigeria (NCWS), Warri South chapter, Mrs Lilian Amuge, who mobilized her members to the flag-off ceremony,  told our correspondent that they are going to sensitise all women in the council area on the need for them to be immunized against tetanus disease.

Also, the Chief Orientation and Mobilization Officer, National Orientation Agency, Warri South Local Government Area formation, Mrs Efejukwu Omasan, commended the state government and council are for bringing the tetanus vaccination exercise to the people at the grassroots.

“National Orientation Agency, like we all know, is an agency saddled with the task of giving orientation to the people on the kind of behavior that is expected of them. With this programme, we are going all out to sensitise our women on the need to come out enmass to be immunized,” Mrs Efejukwu said.