Abuja – The Minister of Health,
Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, on
Monday said that the ministry
had started the printing of new
yellow fever cards with encoded
security details to replace the old ones. Chukwu said this when the newly
appointed WHO Country
Representative to Nigeria, Dr Rui
Gamavaz, paid a courtesy visit to
the ministry. In May, about 125 Nigerians were
deported by the South African
authorities because they were
alleged not to have possessed
genuine yellow fever card. He said that Nigeria had
established collaboration with
the Global Alliance for Vaccine
Immunisation (GAVI) to ensure
effective control of any
unforeseen eventuality that might arise as a result of
outbreak from neighbouring
countries. “On the yellow fever aspect, the
issue we have with South Africa
diplomatically, it has been
resolved but for the health
aspect. “What we are doing now, we are
printing new yellow cards, which
once they are printed, these ones
have better security features
and they will gradually replace
the old yellow card. “ We are walking with GAVI now
to some extent they have
accepted our proposal for a
campaign for yellow fever. “So, if able by next year with the
assistance of GAVI we will
source yellow fever vaccines we
will begin a special campaign. “Because we remain at risks, even
recently Cameroon had some
outbreak and we are neighbours
with them and from either ways
the disease can cross from either
ways but we need to get more people immunised in Nigeria if we
are not to have recurrence of
1995 disaster.’’ Chukwu expressed concern over
the ineffectiveness in the use of
mosquito treated net to
eradicate malaria in Nigeria. He said that the method did not
conform with the country’s
weather condition, stressing
that a lot of people complained
that it was generating a lot of
heat. Chukwu said that the indoor
residual spraying was an
expensive method to embark on,
besides, many Nigerians
preferred staying outside to
receive fresh air. The minister also appealed to
WHO to collaborate with the
country in ensuring that polio
was totally eradicated. He said that more laboratories
would be established for polio
diagnosis. Chukwu said that Nigeria was
also making progress in reducing
maternal and new born mortality
through the Save One Million
Lives initiatives. He pledged Nigeria’s cooperation
with the new country
representative to achieve
success in promoting the health
of the citizens. Responding, the WHO country
representative appreciated the
Federal Government’s efforts in
promoting the health of
Nigerians. Gamavaz gave the assurance
that WHO would identify the
health challenges in Nigeria and
work toward addressing the
issues. He pledged to build on the
existing relationship of his
predecessors, stressing that
efforts would be put in place to
ensure success in promoting
good health of the people. (NAN)
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/12/nigeria-starts-printing-of-new-encoded-yellow-fever-card/