Gusau (Nigeria): The Polio Emergency Operations Centre in Zamfara said over 2 million children have been vaccinated against measles and rubella diseases in the state.
Dr Murtala Salahudeen, the Incident Manager in charge of the Centre, disclosed this in Gusau on Saturday at the press conference to mark World Polio Day.
Salahudeen further said that over 1.8 million children aged 0-59 months in the state have been vaccinated against polio.
He described the achievement as a significant step toward protecting children from deadly but preventable diseases.
“You know, today is an important day to create awareness among the general public on the significant threats of polio to the socioeconomic development of the society.
“Part of today’s activities, we review achievements and challenges in the fight against polio and other killer diseases.
“Based on various measures taken by the state government in collaboration with development partners, especially the World Health Organisation (WHO), we have recorded tremendous achievements in Zamfara,” the manager said.
Salahudeen said the successes were the result of the state government’s commitment and the strong partnership with all stakeholders.
“The declaration of emergency in the health sector by Gov. Dauda Lawal contributed to the various successes.
“The state government, in collaboration with the partners, ensured active technical support and necessary funding from the government to provide polio eradication vaccines,” he declared.
According to him, the WHO, UNICEF, Chigari, Sultan, and Salina Foundations had contributed to reaching many hitherto unvaccinated children.
“WHO had provided significant funding and logistics support to reach out to hard-to-reach communities.
WHO, UNICEF and other partners also provided technical support and capacity-building for the implementation of routine immunisation activities across the 14 LGAs.
“The state government ensured active collaboration by providing all the needed health personnel, facilities and good working environments towards eradicating polio,” the manager explained.
According to Salahudeen, following strong collaboration between the state government and the security agencies, many hard-to-reach areas were accessed.
“We were able to vaccinate the children even in the nomadic communities,” he added.
