Measles: 15, 377 children immunised in Dange/Shuni LG

NO fewer than 15,377 children in Dange/Shuni local government area of Sokoto state have so far been immunised in the first round of the ongoing immunisation exercise across 10 of the 23 LGAs in the state.

Speaking with newsmen on Sunday in Sokoto, the Acting Local Government Immunisation Officer (LIO), Mr Kabiru Mode, said the council was targeting 60,577 children during the immunisation exercise.

“We have started the immunisation exercise on Saturday which will last for four rounds and presently we are able to vaccinate 15,377 children in the first round.

ALSO READ: Insecurity: Recognise local security groups, expert tells South-West governors

“Our target is to ensure that 60,577 children are covered at the end of the four rounds of the immunisation exercise.

“Moreover, we have received 64,700 doses of the vaccine beyond our target in case the need arises for an increase in the number of eligible children,” he said.

He noted that the exercise was going on smoothly, “though we have some villages with security challenges, with the support of the community members, we are actually progressing.

“More so, all the local government officials, traditional and religious leaders are present in the field to tackle non-compliance and ensure no child is left out of the immunisation exercise,” he said.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that for ranking top with the highest incidences of measles in the state based on the data by the Sokoto State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SSPHCDA), Rabah LGA has the highest number of 132 cases, due to security challenges.

Other local governments are Gwadabawa with 93 cases, Illela and Goronyo with 76 cases, Tambuwal 53, Yabo 26, Shagari 25, Tureta 21 followed by Dange/Shuni with 18 cases among others.

The 10 local governments to be covered by the immunisation includes; Sokoto South, Sokoto North, Kware, Wurno, Goronyo, Rabah, Bodinga, Dange/Shuni, Gwadabawa, and Wamakko local government areas of the state.