Not fewer than 100 Girls between the ages of 9-14 in Toro LGA of Bauchi State have been vaccinated against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV).
The vaccination exercise was sponsored by Ibrahim Ali Usman Foundation which organized a free medical outreach in Magama Gari Community, Toro Local Government Area.
Speaking during the free medical outreach on Wednesday, Executive Director of the Foundation, Comrade Yusuf Aliyu Fada said that the programme witnessed a large turnout of beneficiaries whose parents and guardians made them available for the vaccination exercise.
Fada who is also the Chairman, Bauchi State Volunteer Health Workers, said that during the outreach, sensitization and awareness creation campaign on the dangers of Human Papilloma Virus on women was carried out.
According to him, under the Foundation, his team has been going into the nooks and crannies of urban and rural areas creating awareness and sensitizing the people about the importance of the HPV vaccine.
“We are in this community today with the purpose of creating awareness and campaigning on the dangers of HPV. We are here to educate them about the virus and what should be done to avoid being infected,” he said.
Fada who said that the community members were adequately informed about the virus and its negative effect on girl children, disclosed that many parents gladly brought their girl children who got vaccinated free of charge.
According to him, the awareness campaign was sponsored by Ibrahim Ali Usman, the founder of the Foundation which had the support of Alheri Y.S Foundation and the Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Board.
“We were able to vaccinate not fewer than 100 girls, all the doses we brought finished. One dose of the vaccine costs N30,000 and it cannot be administered on a person until a test is carried out.
.”Apart from the Free medical outreach, the Foundation has drilled over 100 Boreholes in Bauchi South, offered scholarships to youths and women, as well as donated over 100,000 exercise books to school children among others.”
The Foundation, according to him, is committed to reaching out to all the 20 LGAs of Bauchi state with different interventions before the end of 2025.
In their remarks, some health officers working in Magama Gumau Maternity, Khadijat Abduljadir and Munirat Aliyu Jibrin, commended the foundation for the free medical outreach.
They appreciate the foundation for the gesture as girls between the ages of 9-14 received the vaccines which ordinarily, as less privileged people, they couldn’t afford the cost because a dose costs N30,000 or even above.
“Honestly we are thankful to the foundation and we pray for God to bless them. We also urged other individuals who are well-to-do in the society to emulate their founder so that the less privileged members of the society can benefit from different interventions,” Jibrin said.
Also speaking, the community leader of Magama Gari, Mal. Abdullahi Munka’ila expressed gratitude to the foundation for helping his subjects and hoped that similar organizations and individuals would intervene in other pressing needs of the people.
Receiving the team in his palace, the District Head of Jama’a, Alhaji Bala Suleiman commended the efforts of the founder of the Foundation, Alhaji Ibrahim Ali Usman towards helping humanity despite being a retiree.
The District Head who prayed to God to bless the founder abundantly, said his doors are always opened for advice.
On their part, some mothers, Habiba Ibrahim, Hajara Yakubu and Hassan Usman, all from Magama Gari, also appreciated the foundation for the free medical outreach and the vaccination of their children against the Human Papilloma Virus.
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