By Asma’u Ahmad
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Primary Health Care Development Board says it will use 10 Metal Fridges to boost vaccine cold chain system in the territory.
The Executive Secretary of the board, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, told media men in an interview in Abuja on Tuesday that the fridges were being expected for distribution to selected health facilities.
Dr. Rilwanu Mohammed
Dr Mohammed said that lack of adequate cold chain system to store vaccines in FCT had been a challenge and caused a huge gap to immunisation programme.
He explained that the solar powered metal fridges specially designed would be donated to his board by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) free of charge.
“May be any time next week, we will receive the 10 metal fridges and it will help us in storing our vaccines. We shall distribute them to some rural areas in Gwagwalada, Kuje and Abaji Area Councils that had no cold chain systems.
“This type of fridge will work in places that have no electricity because it uses batteries to function and it will help to keep the potency of the vaccines,” he said.
Meanwhile, the scribe said that the last round immunisation recorded more than 100 per cent coverage because it surpassed the target of children intended to immunise.
According to him, the board targeted 944,000 children under five but ended up vaccinating more than one million. Mohammed stated that the cases of non-compliance to immunisation against polio in FCT had reduced drastically.
He commended the FCT Minister, Alhaji Muhammad Bello, for his intervention in ensuring residents complied and accepted polio vaccines for their children and wards.
