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From: Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse
The Jigawa State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), on Tuesday, flagged off inoculation campaign against Bilharzia disease targeting about 1.6 million primary schools pupils across the state.
SUBEB Executive Chairman in the state , Alhaji Salisu Zakar, who flagged off the campaign, in Yakabu Pilot Primary school, Birnin-Kudu, said SUBEB, the state Ministry of Health in conjunction with a development partner, Health and Development Support Programme, has planned to implement the inoculation programme for children in the state.
According to him, the campaign was not initiated as a result of any outbreak of the disease, rather it was conceived as part of a proactive measure to improve on both the mental and physical fitness of pupils in the state.
He said that though last year there were some reported cases of the disease in Kirikasamma Local Government Area of the state.
He further explained that owing to what was discovered in Kirikasamma local government area last year SUBEB considered vulnerable being a water born disease were pencilled down for the immunisation but after a reconsideration it was decided to scale up the campaign to cover the entire state.
“It is a flag off of immunization against Bilharzia disease. Last year, we planned fora few selected local government areas that are prone to the
disease. But after reassessing the exercise we decided to scale it up for the whole state.
“There was no outbreak. But last year there was a report of few cases in Kirikasamma Local Government Area. We don’t want the situation to escalate hence, the decision for the proactive measure. The exercise is expected to be completed before schools closed forthe Christmas and new year holidays by the end of this week.
“The drugs for the immunisation were donated free to the state government by our development partner, Health and Development Support Programme. SUBEB only provide the logistics. At the end of the exercise we are expected to cover about 80 percent of the targeted population”, Zakar claimed.
