The Kwara State Government has received a total of 330,400 doses of anthrax vaccines from the Livestock Productivity and Resilience Support Project (L-PRES) through the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, with a view to ensuring total eradication of anthrax disease in the Country.
Taking delivery of the vaccine, the State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs. Oloruntoyosi Thomas, appreciated the collaborative efforts of the Federal Government and L-PRES Project towards ensuring an anthrax-free state and Nigeria at large.
She assured the donors of adequate utilization of the vaccines by improving on its state-wide sensitization campaign against zoonotic diseases for the livestock farmers and other livestock value chain operators in the state.
On her part, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs. Funke Sokoya commended the federal government’s drive towards the eradication of infectious diseases and called for more synergy with all relevant bodies in preventing disease outbreaks and disease eradication.
The Director of Veterinary Services, Kwara State Ministry of Agriculture, Dr. Abdulateef Olugbon appealed to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, through L-PRES Project Office, to assist the state in logistics with the aim of achieving the targeted purpose, noting that over 30,000 doses of anthrax vaccines were yet to be administered due to logistic challenges.
The State Project Coordinator (SPC), Mr. Olusoji Oyawoye, thanked the Federal Government for the prompt delivery of the vaccines, noting that the gesture would aid proper implementation of L-PRES animal health sub-component in the state.
Earlier, the team lead, Dr. Abubakar Sidiq, disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, with the support of L-PRES National Coordination office, embarked on the production of 13 million doses of anthrax, which are to be distributed across the 36 states of the federation, out of which 330,400 doses were allocated to Kwara State.
According to him, the L-PRES Project Office and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture is coordinating the provision of inputs, such as vaccines boxes, brim bags of vaccines, as well as some of the logistics required for administering the vaccines.
“National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) notified the National Office of L-PRES that the vaccines were ready to be delivered to the states, and we are here to officially handover these vaccines with the hope that they will be used judiciously and with the target of having a nation free of anthrax”, Sidiq said.
