No fewer than 2.9 million children in Katsina State are set to be immunized against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases in a massive campaign organized by the Katsina State Government and supported by non-governmental and international organizations. The initiative aims to safeguard children’s health in the state.
The immunization campaign, scheduled to take place from May 13th to May 18th, will target children aged zero to 59 months across the 34 Local Government Areas. The state has been divided into two segments, with the first batch covering 17 LGAs and the second batch to follow from May 21st to May 26th, encompassing the remaining 17 LGAs.
Dr. Shamsuddeen Yahaya, the Executive Secretary of the Katsina Primary Healthcare Agency, expressed the importance of the campaign, stating, “We are all aware that polio has been eradicated in Nigeria since 2020 which is a big achievement, but we still have wild poliovirus in some countries around the world specifically Pakistan and Afghanistan… We have divided the state into two… There is going to be an injection for children between 6 weeks and 59 months of age while the other oral vaccine is going to be for children from zero to 59 months. All these vaccines are safe.”
Dr. Mayana Abubakar, the State Coordinator of the World Health Organization, highlighted their role as the leading technical partner in the campaign, providing support in logistics, preparations, supervision, and monitoring. He stated, “The campaign is intended to boost the population immunity and is targeting zero to 59 months with a sort of Factional Injectable Polio Vaccine and OPV… We hope that the circulating variant of poliovirus will be interrupted.”
As part of the advocacy efforts, officials from the Katsina State Primary Healthcare Agency, National Primary Healthcare Development Agency, World Health Organization, Centre for Disease Control, UNICEF, AFENET, Rotary, and other donor partners visited the Emirs of Katsina and Daura to garner community support.
Emir Abdulmumini Kabir Usman acknowledged the challenge of religious beliefs, sharing, “There are a series of problems… There was a village I visited whose residents disagreed basically because of religious beliefs… So, this issue has really been discouraging our effort. So, in that regard, I threatened to send them out of my land if they disagreed but in the end, they agreed.”
Emir Umar Umar of Daura emphasized the responsibility to act, stating, “We don’t need to be commended or asked to do what we are meant to do. It’s our job.”
The campaign aims to ensure widespread immunization coverage and eliminate the risk of polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases among children in Katsina State.