Cape Coast, Nov. 1, GNA - Some 600,000 children from age zero to five are to be immunized in the central region under this year's national expanded immunization programme, health authorities said on Wednesday.

The children would be immunized against polio and measles and be given vitamin A capsules, with infants aged below two years receiving treated bed nets in addition.

Nana Charles Osafo Ahor Takyi I, acting Regional Director of Health Services, who made this known on Wednesday at the regional launch of the programme at the Abura, a suburb of Cape Coast, called on parents to take the exercise seriously and ensure that children in the target group were all immunized.

He said 90 percent of more than 10.3 million deaths occurring among children below five years worldwide occurred in developing countries and that 30 percent of the deaths occur as stillbirth. Another 30 percent also die in the first seven days of the neonatal period, with a third of what remains die before the age of five years.

He said the government had made provision for active control of childhood deaths through the expanded programme of immunization and urged parents to reciprocate the gesture by making sure their children were immunized.

Nana Takyi explained that children below two years were being provided with treated bed nets to help reduce malaria, adding that cases of severe anaemia with haemoglobin level falling below five, instead of 16, were high among such age group and advised parents not to keep the nets for their personal use but for the children.

He was happy that infant mortality in the region had reduced from more than 200 to 104 in 100,000 births and said everything would be done to reduce it further.

The Central Regional Minister, Nana Ato Arthur, called on parents to attach all seriousness to the programme and ensure that children in the target group were not left out in the exercise to help reduce, if possible, eradicate all the childhood killer diseases in the region. He said the government attaches great importance to the exercise and as a result provided the necessary logistics and funding to enhance it success.