The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Dr. Olaokun Soyinka

  • Ogun scores high on routine immunisation

    OGUN State has recorded 100 per cent coverage on routine immunisation, the Commissioner for Health, Dr Olaokun Soyinka has said.

    According to him, this is an achievement compared to the previous years.

    Soyinka, who spoke to reporters at a  public sensitisation programme in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, said the figure surpassed the national target of 85 per cent set by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) with development partners.

    He said a coverage of 171,359, which represented 100 per cent, was recorded last year while 149,048 (82 per cent) was recorded in 2012 on routine immunisation (RI) for children under one month and 11 months.

    He said: “This analysis shows that tremendous improvement has been made in the state to free children from vaccine preventable diseases, especially poliomyelitis that causes paralysis.”

    The state, Soyinka said, was able to achieve the feat due to the commitment and support of the government towards the provision of qualitative healthcare.

    He praised the support of partners, the state’s social mobilisation activities, community participation; outreach services, and improve coordinated team work with border countries and states.

    “The last case of polio virus in the state was in 2009 and since then we have been free,” he said.

    The commissioner said 2, 195, 314 children under five were immunised during supplementary immunisation last year against wild polio virus (WPV).

    Soyinka said: “At present, the state had successfully immunised 2,113,504 under-five children in the first quarter of this year while it would strengthen the routine and supplementary immunisation activities to capture children  who might have missed out in the exercise.”

  • Kids to join Ogun anti-malaria campaign

    Kids to join Ogun anti-malaria campaign

    Children will join the efforts of the Ogun State government to combat malaria.

    This is because kids are vital change agents in information dissemination.

    Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka who made this known at a  crusade to sensitise students of public and private schools in the state, said that children have been discovered to play vital roles in disseminating information, particularly among their peers and parents.

    “We believe the children are the future; by the time we inculcate this attitude in them and they grow up with it, I believe they will be able to communicate with their peers and parents on how malaria can be prevented,” the Commissioner noted.

    Dr. Soyinka, represented by his Special Assistant, Dr. Sade Adebanjo at the programme organised in conjunction with a pharmaceutical company, remarked that children aged between ages zero to five were the most vulnerable to malaria attack.

    He reiterated that the state government was firmly committed to providing a sound and safe healthcare service to the people as one of its five cardinal programmes, pointing out that the programme was a demonstration of this commitment.

    Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Health, Dr. Olaoluwa Lawson urged mothers to always ensure that their children are protected from malaria attack by using insecticide treated mosquitoes nets. Another way parents can prevent malaria is clearing their surroundings and always avoiding stagnant water in the environment.

    The representative of the partnering pharmaceutical company, Mrs. Taiwo Aderinsola expressed the willingness of her organisation to partner with the state government on any issue relating to healthcare, pointing out that malaria remained a scourge that required the attention of the government and stakeholders.

  • How to improve health care

    Ogun State has asked that the revolutionised efforts to enhance provision of qualitative health care in the state be sustained.

    Its Commissioner for Health, Dr Olaokun Soyinka, said one major way of doing this was through a Community- Based Health Insurance Scheme.

    Soyinka spoke in Abeokuta, the state capital, at a stakeholders’ meeting with health maintenance organitions (HMOs) in community Health Insurance Scheme.

    Soyinka said it was in realisation of this that the government formulated an all-encompassing health policy which had the insurance scheme as one of its cornerstones to make its health care delivery system more efficient, equitable, accessible, affordable and sustainable for residents.

    “There is need to revolutionise the health system through health insurance that will be owned and controlled by the community,” Soyinka remarked.

  • ‘Early report of mouth discomfort is important’

    The public has been reminded of the need to cater for the mouth and report any sign of discomfort to the general hospitals and dental health clinics for necessary advise and treatment.

    Ogun State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Olaokun Soyinka, said this at the oral health care screening organised by the state’s Ministry of Health in Abeokuta to mark this year’s World Oral Day.

    “What we are trying to remind people of is that caring for your mouth, oral health, teeth and oral structures in your mouth is essential for general health and it is also essential because many of the diseases of oral health are preventable only if you can get advise within a general hospital and also a dental centre situated in the town”, he said.

    Soyinka charged the people to always perform a routine medical check-up of their mouth with a dentist at least twice a year whether or not they have a dental problem.

    He said the mouth serves as a major part of the body which should be well attended to in order to avoid oral diseases that are preventable.

    The state, he said, is also making sure oral health care services are also available at primary health care level called preventive oral care and advised people to clean their teeth regularly using toothpaste that have fluoride.