‎As part of events marking the year 2025 World Polio Day, the Coordinator, Office of the Edo State First Lady, Mrs. Edesili Okpebholo Anani, has led a Polio Awareness Walk in strategic areas across Benin City and flagged-off the exercise as efforts aimed at highlighting the importance of vaccinating infants against polio and other preventable diseases.

‎During the Edo Polio Advocacy Walk, as organized by the Benin Rotary Metropolitan Club in collaboration with the Edo State Ministry of Health, the Edo State Primary Health Care Development Agency and the World Health Organization, Mrs. Anani led the sensitization through key locations in Benin City, specifically from the State House of Assembly, through Mission Road to Ugbague and Forestry Road, engaging with traders and market women. She emphasized the importance of Polio Vaccination, noting that it is administered orally, and urged parents to immunize their children to safeguard their future.

‎”It is important to immunize your child against polio and other diseases. The Government has made free polio vaccines available, and they are vital for your child’s health. If you don’t immunize your child, they may face challenges and become a burden to you in the future,” she stated.

‎At the official flag off of the campaign at Ekiosa Primary Health Centre (PHC) on Sokponba Road in Benin City, Mrs. Anani urged parents to have their children aged zero to five years vaccinated against polio, emphasizing the safety and importance of the vaccine. She encouraged mothers to share the vital information with others to help protect children in their communities.

‎In her words, “We are reminding everyone that polio is a real threat, and children from zero to five (0-5) years old should be immunized. I advise parents that failure to vaccinate their children against polio and other diseases may lead to their children asking them questions later in life. We are raising awareness to highlight the safety and importance of these vaccines for children’s health. Polio can impact the legs and hands, causing significant challenges. We urge everyone, especially mothers, to share this vital information and work together to protect our children”.

‎Earlier, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Cyril Oshiomole, emphasized that polio can compromise a child’s health, resulting in paralysis. He encouraged mothers to have their children vaccinated at the nearest Primary Healthcare Center, noting that the State Government has made the vaccine available free of charge.

‎The Medical Officer of Health, Oredo Local Government Health Authority, Dr. Marvelson Obasogie encouraged mothers at the PHC to spread the word and invite their friends and neighbours who haven’t vaccinated their children to health facilities. He urged them to help increase community immunity against polio and improve the quality of life for children under five years of age.

‎A Polio survivor and President of the Joint National Persons with Disabilities, Mrs. Ann Ojugo, cited her experience to emphasize the importance of polio immunization. She narrated how contracting polio at age two (years) led to her reliance on a wheelchair. She decried the disease’s impact on her mobility and quality of life, urging parents to protect their children by immunizing them from polio’s debilitating effects and stressed the place of community involvement and collective action to prevent polio cases to ensure a healthier future for Nigerian children.

‎Highpoint of the event was the official flag off of polio immunization, with vaccines administered to infants at the PHC, free-of-charge.