FCTA schools, staff, others to benefit from meningitis vaccination

Civil Servants, School Pupils and other residents in the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory [FCT] will henceforth benefit from the ongoing vaccination against the spread of meningitis, FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr. Babatope Ajakaiye has said.

Ajakaiye at an interactive forum with chairmen of the six area councils and other stakeholders has directed the ministry’s Primary Health Care Board [PHCB] to commence the exercise without further delay warning that government would not hesitate to arrest and prosecute defaulters.

It would be recalled that FCT in March this year recorded four deaths when the disease initially broke out, a development that sparked off anxiety among the people.

The incident propelled the FCTA to import large quantities of the vaccines with the strong zeal for quick delivery. The permanent secretary equally charged parents and religious organisations to always make their children and followers available for vaccination while assuring that the FCT Administration would continue to carry out policies and programmes aimed at enhancing the well being of residents.

Ajakaiye also assured the board of the readiness of FCT administration to make financial intervention in the event of shortage of vaccines and other facilities, adding that no responsible government would watch the lives of its citizens being ravaged by diseases that can be prevented.