Wife of Cross River State Governor, Dr Mrs Linda Ayade
has flagged off vaccination to eliminate maternal neonatal tetanus disease from the State, calling on the women to take advantage of the flag-off of the Maternal Neonatal Tetanus Elimination (MNTE) vaccination exercise to protect their babies from tetanus. " it is our strong desire to eliminate tetanus from Cross River state".
She made this vow on Saturday during the World AIDS day celebration at Calabar Municipal Council Headquarters. She said immunization is the key to the prevention of Tetanus disease in Nigeria, while raising awareness on the dangers of neonatal tetanus, warning that mothers could be infected during unsafe and unhygienic delivery of their babies.
She said every girl and woman of child bearing age (15 – 49 years), must benefit from the exercise
Dr Ayade then went on to administer the first immunisation amidst cheers and excitement from the crowd.
Similarly, Her Excellency, Dr Mrs Linda Ayade and President of Mediatrix Development Foundation led a Road walk in commemoration of the World AIDS Day from Rabanna Junction down to Calabar Municipal Council to sensitize and educate people about the scourge of HIV and AIDS, Preventions and testing.
Speaking she urged every citizens to know their status as any one that dies from the disease is the cause of his/her death. According to the 2018 theme "Know your status "She said Knowing your status is important, because it helps protect your life. We shouldn't let our carelessness take our lives, for if you fail to know your status today, you plan to die tomorrow".
Also Speaking, Commissioner for Health, Dr. Inyang Asibong said the state is striving so hard to ensure everyone knows their HIV/AIDS status.
According to her Cross River State Government is giving out free HIV drugs to anyone affected with the virus and emphasizing on prevention so, there is no reason for us to have any new case.
Earlier Speaking, Director General of Cross River State Agency for the Control of AIDS (SACA), Dr Rosemary Nyambi said the State HIV prevalence is still higher than the National and Zonal Average.
She said, "Cross River State has a HIV prevalence of (7.7% for urban and 4.2% for rural) 6.6% (2014 survey by the Federal Ministry of Health) and ranked 5th position in Nigeria. HIV prevalence is higher in the Urban than in the rural setting and we must change this statistics.
Speaking on behalf of the Director General of Cross River State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr Betta Edu, the State Director of Primary Healthcare, Dr Ana Onabieni said the Agency is committed to the elimination of HIV/AIDS" adding that women who are positive are taught how to breastfeed their babies exclusively, or not at all.
The wife of Governor also flagged off the world breastfeeding week, encouraging mothers to breastfeed exclusively for 6 months and the continuously for one to two years as it helps in proper development of the child's brain and immune system. It also helps bonding and prevent breast cancer.
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