The Kwara State Government has begun the second round of routine immunisation, an exercise the government said would involve 238,000 children across the state.

The Kwara State Primary Healthcare Development Agency is conducting the programme in collaboration with development partners.

The agency’s executive secretary, Nusirat Elelu, said the exercise aims to further strengthen and scale up health services, particularly for hard-to-reach, underserved, and zero-dose children.

She added that it comprised the second round of the Big Catch-up vaccination campaigns planned for Ifelodun, Baruten and Ilorin East local government areas, while the local Immunisation Plus Days would be implemented in the remaining 13 LGAs from 11 to 16 February.

She said the exercises were being implemented to ramp up immunisation coverage, rapidly decrease the number of zero-dose and partially immunised children, and increase population immunity through vaccinations.

Mrs Elelu described immunisation as one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions, adding that it prevents millions of deaths and ill health every year, thus reducing morbidity and mortality across the world.

She said the intensification exercise would adopt an integrated approach because the combination of vaccines with other health interventions, such as vitamin A supplementation, helps to reduce the likelihood of children dying from childhood killer diseases.

Mrs Elelu called on stakeholders, service providers, community leaders, parents and other caregivers to ensure their children are immunised during this period.