The Ikate/Itire Local Council Development Area of Lagos State said it immunised 12,805 children and adults in the area between January and August.

Mrs Folashade Oguneye, Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) of the council, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos recently.

Ogunleye explained that 1,339 children were immunised against measles, and 5,252 against polio.

She also said that 9,680 adults, especially pregnant women, were immunised against tetanus during the period.

``We have more pregnant women in attendance now because of free medical care from the ante-natal to delivery period.

``Some mothers go to churches and traditional birth clinics to deliver their babies and some even deliver at home, but since we give free medical care they now come to the health centre,” she said.

The chief nursing officer assured the public that the council now had sufficient immunisation drugs as a result of its drug revolving fund programme.

Oguneye, who said that pregnant women and children were now administered free anti-malarial drugs, advised parents to always take their children to health centres.

She said that in compliance with the Federal Government's directives, children aged between six months and five years were being administered Vitamin “A”.

The chief nursing officer, who noted that the major challenge confronting the health centres was shortage of manpower, appealed to the Lagos State Government to deploy more nurses to the area.