The Zamfara State Primary Health Care Board (ZSPHCB), working with UNICEF and other development partners, has launched a Ramadan immunisation campaign aimed at safeguarding children from vaccine-preventable diseases, especially Polio.
The exercise was inaugurated at the Primary Health Centre in Kwata, Gusau, by the state Commissioner for Health, Nafisa Muhammad Maradun.
The ceremony was attended by traditional leaders, the Executive Secretary of the ZSPHCB, representatives of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), directors, heads of departments and officials from partner organisations supporting immunisation and primary healthcare programmes.
Speaking at the event, Maradun described the campaign as a crucial initiative to motivate parents and caregivers to vaccinate their children against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases.
She said the four-day campaign targets more than 1.3 million children under the age of five across the state, with about 1,997 vaccination teams deployed for house-to-house, fixed post and outreach immunisation.
According to her, the teams will administer the novel oral polio vaccine (nOPV), while vaccinated children will be given noodles and vaccination teams provided with sugar packs to support their activities.
The commissioner reiterated the commitment of the administration of Dauda Lawal to enhancing child health and strengthening primary healthcare services across the state.
She noted that despite challenges such as insecurity and malnutrition, the government remains committed to improving health indices through increased funding for primary healthcare, infrastructural development in facilities under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and stronger collaboration with development partners.
Maradun also urged parents and caregivers to ensure their children receive the vaccine, stressing that protecting children from polio is critical to the state’s future.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the board, Husaini Yakubu Anka, appealed to parents across the state to take advantage of the campaign to ensure that all eligible children are vaccinated.
In his remarks, the Zamfara State chairman of ALGON, Samaila Kwangwami, assured that the 14 local government chairmen in the state would support health programmes, particularly immunisation campaigns.
The state coordinator of the World Health Organization (WHO) said the campaign was part of intensified efforts to address the recent polio outbreak and halt transmission in the Kebbi–Sokoto–Zamfara axis in collaboration with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI).
The Ramadan immunisation campaign is scheduled to begin on Saturday across the 14 local government areas of Zamfara State, targeting eligible children with life-saving vaccines.
