The Keta Municipal Health Directorate in the Volta Region, has commenced Child Health Promotion and African Vaccination Week exercise for children under five years.

The exercise which targeted four per cent of the children’s population in the area would help strengthen the immune system of all children.

Madam Dora Kugbonu, the Public Health Promotion Officer of Keta Municipal Health Directorate, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, said the exercise would help vaccinate children against various forms of diseases.

“For stronger and healthy childhood, we are giving vitamin A to children at six months and will repeat that every six months until they are five years old,” she said.

Madam Kugbonu said that during the exercise the health workers would also educate lactating mothers to breastfeed babies within the first one hour after birth and give only breast milk till six months and continue breastfeeding for two years and beyond in addition to other foods.

She said parents were encouraged to ensure that all children sleep under treated insecticide mosquito net every night and throughout the night to prevent malaria and other related sicknesses among children.

“During this exercise, we are also encouraging parents especially mothers to take their eligible children to weighing regularly from birth to five years.”

Madam Kugbonu explained that the period would be used to register babies at birth or within one year of birth to give children a legal recognition as a Ghanaian child as well as social protection.

She advised that for the children to be in good state of health, there must be the need to collaborate to help immunise their system to protect them against childhood diseases and urged parent to help complete immunisation before children get to two years old.

She said that a well-trained health worker in uniforms would visit all communities within the municipality to conduct exercise at the various weighing centres to vaccinate children under 5 years to promote the progress of essential child health service for free of charge.

She urged the public to support and collaborate with the health workers for a successful exercise which would end on May 5, to help protect the young and feature leaders from any diseases and sicknesses.

“Every Child Deserves A Healthy Feature, Invest In Your Child, Attend ‘Weighing’ Regularly,” is the theme of the exercise.