Polio: Jigawa, UNICEF to vaccinate 1.2 million children

In collaboration with UNICEF, the Jigawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (PHCDA) is set to vaccinate 1.2 million children against Polio before the forthcoming Polio Immunisation exercise.

This was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary of the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Kabiru Ibrahim, in an exclusive interview with Online Tribune in the state. The Permanent Secretary explained that “everything has been set by the Jigawa State government through PHCDA to vaccinate 2.1 million children aged 0-5 years against Polio across the 27 local government areas of the state”.

Dr. Kabiru Ibrahim explained that “we have recruited over 9,180 ad-hoc staff who are grouped into 3,060 teams and spread across 287 political wards of the state to conduct the exercise”.

According to him, “the exercise will be flagged off tomorrow, Saturday, and will last for five days. Four days are for the actual exercise, and one day is designated for mopping up to ensure no child is left behind”.

He further stated that “as I’m talking to you now, we have enough vaccine doses dispatched to all the 27 local government areas with all the necessary materials needed for the kick-off of the exercise tomorrow simultaneously across the state”.

“The Permanent Secretary noted that “as you are fully aware, Jigawa and Nigeria have been polio-free for years. However, this immunization exercise follows the discovery of an environmental polio sample in some neighboring states, including Jigawa, which are also conducting the same exercise. That is why we in Jigawa are also conducting it to provide additional protection against the polio disease for our children”.

He added that “to this end, we have constituted 3,060 teams, each comprising three members, who will be going from house to house in addition to some designated centers and all public health facilities in the state to immunize the targeted 1.2 million children aged 0-5 years in the state”.

He therefore warned people to avoid setting any conditions for accepting any immunization, be it polio or routine immunization. He also called on parents and caregivers to bring their children to receive the vaccines to improve their protection against the disease.

Online Tribune gathered that there are over 556,750 children who have not received a single dose of vaccination that they should have received; these are referred to as zero-dose children.

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This was contained in a paper presented by Mr. Michael Banda, Officer-in-Charge at the UNICEF Field Office Kano, during a Media/QAP briefing and Orientation on the polio campaign organized by UNICEF Kano field office for journalists from Jigawa, Kano, and Katsina states. He said, “such children are inevitably vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases, including poliomyelitis. This is unacceptable and must be tackled head-on”.

Mr. Michael Banda maintained that “not only is polio vaccination crucial, but all routine vaccinations are also critical to children’s survival. We must all work together to strengthen routine immunization services and ensure that all children under five receive all vaccines, including the polio vaccine”.

“If all children receive ALL the vaccines they need, they would no longer be at risk of contracting polio, with its attendant debilitating consequences, but they would instead have received the immunity that will protect them against vaccine-preventable diseases. Immunization has been proven to be the most cost-effective protection against vaccine-preventable diseases,” Banda emphasized.