The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Jigawa State Government, media, community leaders, and other stakeholders have promised to strengthen their partnership on the polio vaccine campaign to address gaps and enhance coverage of the vaccination exercise in the state.
The stakeholders made the promise during a meeting to review last June’s polio vaccine exercise and share information on its outcome.
Speaking at the meeting, the Executive Secretary of Jigawa State Primary Healthcare Board, Dr. Sambo, said the last exercise recorded significant success; however, there are still some challenges that need to be addressed.
The executive secretary, who was represented by the director of public health, Muhammad Umar, said during the last exercise, there were cases of some parents rejecting the vaccine, while some communities tried to use the vaccine as a means of expressing their anger or channeling their demands to the government regarding the execution of certain projects.
He noted that the vaccine is meant to protect children from unnecessary or preventable death or permanent disability; therefore, it should not be rejected or used as a bargaining chip by any parent or community.
“Yes, there are significant improvements, yet more public enlightenment and collaborative efforts are needed to ensure every parent understands the importance of the vaccine for the growth and survival of their children,” he said.
According to him, the Jigawa State Government has renovated hundreds of health facilities and provided an effective cold chain for the timely and safe distribution of the vaccine.
In his remarks, the health communication officer of the board, Malam Shehu Ibrahim, disclosed that during the last exercise, over 2.2 million children were vaccinated.
Speaking on behalf of the working journalists, the chairman of the Correspondents’ Chapel, Comrade Muhammad Zangina, promised to strengthen their public enlightenment on the significance of the vaccine to the survival of children.
The journalist also promised to continue participating in the preparation and implementation of the vaccination exercise for demand generation and feedback to enable more effective policy formulation.
The representative of UNICEF also promised to continue providing technical support and other interventions to achieve sustainable eradication of polio in Jigawa State and Nigeria at large.
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