TASK FORCE ON POLIO

For Ondo state to maintain her leading role in polio eradication initiative, Governor Olusegun Mimiko has inaugurated a Polio Task Force.

Members of the task force include Royal Fathers, members of the state council Caretaker Chairmen, Representatives of International Agencies, National Orientation Agency and religious leaders among others. Mimiko said that the aim of the campaign is to sustain the tempo of the battle againt the crippling disease through consistent and comprehensive campaigns involving all the stakeholders in the state. He said the commitment of the government to polio eradication has yielded a good result.

Mimiko who declared that there has not been any case of polio in the state since 2009 posited that all hands must be on deck to sustain the achievement charging the caretaker chairman to give polio eradication a priority in their domains. As a way of supporting the local government areas, the governor said that the state government would give each of the 18 local governments a Hilux Van to aid their campaign against polio eradication at the end of the next quarter will be rewarded. He encouraged all the stakeholders to be part of the solution to polio virus, saying Nigeria has no cause to be affected by polio like cases in Afghanistan and Pakistan which he described as war zone countries.

Earlier, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Dayo Adeyanju had said that what is going on in the state health sector is a revolution which has placed the State in a higher pedestal among other states in the country in the area of polio eradication.

He said that the state was leading other states in the Federation at a review of Bill and Mellinda Gates  Foundation of Leadership Challenge Award. Adeyanju said that the success record was as a result of Governor Mimko’s passion for human health and assured that the State will win the Bill and Mellinda Gates Leadership Challenge Award.

State Director of National Orientation Agency, Bode Famose on behalf of members of the task force assured that members will do their best to complement government’s effort at eradicating polio in Ondo State.