Over three million children in Kano State under 5 years are to be vaccinated against polio and other preventable diseases from 31st July to 3rd August 2021.
The state Commissioner for Health Dr Aminu Tsanyawa disclosed this during a sensitization meeting with Journalists Aga Polio on the 2nd polio outbreak response campaign (OBR2) held at Emergency Operations Centre, Kano.
Dr. Aminu who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Amina Aliyu Musa said the campaign would be conducted at designated health facilities and other fixed posts while house-house teams will go about administering oral polio vaccine (OPV) across the 44 local government areas.
According to him, several outbreak responses have been conducted which necessitated efforts to continue mobilizing the public for subsequent rounds of polio vaccination despite the covid-19 pandemic.
” Optimal performance is highly desirable during OBR rounds by ensuring no child is missed. As we must be aware that cases of missed children lead to poor quality results of the OBR rounds and surely will affect how we would be able to bring the cVDPV-2 outbreak under control”
The Commissioner pointed out that Nigeria and the African region was certified wild polio virus free on 25th August 2020, having spent 3 years with no case reported anywhere in the nation, while the last case of wild polio virus was recorded in Kano on July 2014.
Dr. Aminu attributed the sustainability of the polio free status to the unrelenting and concerted efforts of the Kano state government and partners who are working tirelessly to achieve the desired objectives.
“Kano state government has played a significant role by funding the routine immunization activities among other facets of polio free sustainability projects in the state”
He commended immunization teams, traditional rulers, religious leaders and development partners who he described as the backbone behind the success of the immunization campaigns.
Khadijah Aliyu