Lhokseumawe (ANTARA) – North Aceh district health workers have begun vaccinating children against polio to meet the specified target of 95%.
UPTD subdistrict chief Puskesmas Tanah Pasir Jarita in north Aceh on Wednesday said polio immunization for children is intended for ages zero to 12 years old.
“Healthcare workers from the puskesmas carried out vaccinations at 24 spots. The announcement of childhood polio immunization in this sub-district reached 600 children out of the target of 2,000 children who must receive immunization shots,” he said.
Jarita said puskesmas officers in Tanah Pasir sub-district have been providing polio immunization with a pellet collection system or door-to-door to residents’ homes.
“The polio immunization declaration was made after cases of polio were found in children in Pidie district, which made Aceh an extraordinary area for incidents,” Jarita said.
The places targeted by health officials for immunization declaration are schools, posyandu and meunasah. At the moment, parents’ enthusiasm to give polio immunization to their children is starting to increase.
“Each child will receive two drops of the polio vaccine. We ask parents to provide vaccinations so that their children can avoid wilt paralysis, rubella, measles and other diseases. So that the level of disability in children does not occur in adulthood ” Jarita said.
The head of the Disease Control and Prevention (P2P) division of the North Aceh District Health Bureau, Ferianto, noted that 123,191 children in the area have been vaccinated against polio.
“Of this total, polio immunization reached only 9,851 children, or 8 percent.
Meanwhile, Pusdatin Kemenkes RI’s estimated goal for Sub PIN Polio in North Aceh, Ferianto said, was 123,191 children with details from ages zero to five reaching 47,131 children and five to seven years 11,750 children and seven to 12 years reaching 64,310 children.
“We hope that the declaration of polio immunization can be achieved according to the target, which is 95 percent of the total target. Therefore, the cooperation of all parties is required for this activity to be successful,” said Ferianto.
