Kaduna Begins Polio Vaccination Of 1.5m Children In 9 LGAs

Kaduna State government has targeted between 1.3 million and 1.5 million children under the age of five for polio vaccination in a sub-national immunisation campaign across nine local government areas of the state.

The exercise started yesterday.

Notifications have been sent to homes, schools, worship centres, streets, playgrounds, among others for effective coverage within a week.

The education officer of the Kaduna State Primary Health Care Board, Isah Yushau, told LEADERSHIP Friday that the campaign would cover 101 wards.

The campaign, he said, was aimed at protecting children from polio, particularly in view of the circulation of mutant poliovirus in neighbouring states and the detection of cases in Kaduna.

He identified the targeted local government areas as Chikun, Igabi, Giwa, Kudan, Makarfi, Ikara, Soba, Sabon Gari and Zaria.

According to him, vaccination teams would reach children in households, schools, churches, mosques, playgrounds, streets and other locations where children are likely to be found.

“We have already made adequate plans to visit all those places.

“Our personnel have been trained, and adequate supplies of vaccines and other logistics have been provided,” he said.

The health official explained that the campaign was particularly important because neighbouring states were experiencing infections from different variants of poliovirus.

He added that Kaduna State had also recorded the isolation of two mutant poliovirus samples earlier in the year in Soba and Igabi local government areas, following similar detections in some local government areas towards the end of last year.

Yushau said the development underscored the need to ensure that all eligible children received the required doses of polio vaccines to strengthen their immunity against the disease.

He urged parents and caregivers to cooperate with vaccination teams and ensure that their children received routine immunisation against childhood killer diseases.

“The health of our children is our pride, and parents and caregivers need to do everything within their capacity to ensure that their children get all the required vaccines against childhood killer diseases,” he said.

Yushau further said that, in addition to the polio campaign, other vaccines were available at designated immunisation posts to protect children against diseases such as tuberculosis, measles, diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough and pneumonia.

Isah therefore stressed the importance of routine immunisation, noting that the vaccines provided under the national immunisation schedule remained essential for protecting children from preventable diseases.