From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has called for a united action of all citizens and leaders to end zero dose immunization of children against polio virus and other preventable diseases in northeast Borno and Yobe states.
The call came as a week-long campaign to boost vaccination and stop polio spread in the area which started on April 26 and ended weekend.
UNICEF Health Officer, Bashir Elegbede, confirmed that the National Immunization Plus campaign continues after the zero dose campaign.
He had earlier explained at the sensitization event in Damaturu, Yobe State State capital that zero dose children are those who have not received a single vaccine shot throughout the national routine immunisation schedules.
He said Borno and Yobe states have a disproportionate number of children out of the 2.1 million children who had not taken the polio vaccine in their lifetime, prompting a week of campaign to end the challenge.
“We call on everyone to know vaccines, learn about vaccines, pass the knowledge and dispel misinformation, engage with your network to improve uptake of vaccines in all age groups,” he urged members of the public.
Yobe State Commissioner for Health, Dr Muhammad Gana said the World vaccination week is a period aimed at sensitizing the general public on the importance of immunization considered as a cost-effective strategy toward the prevention of vaccine preventable diseases.
He said Yobe State has recorded outbreaks of diseases including meningitis and cholera with circulating vaccine type 2 and type 3 reported in one of the local governments.
“The governor of Yobe State has directed that we should renew our commitment and strategy to ensure that no child is left without being immunized,” he told journalists shortly after a media sensitization parley organised by UNICEF and Federal Ministry of Information Child Rights units.
The public health expert said the circulating vaccine-derived poliovirus type 2 (cVDPV2) is a form of poliovirus that emerges when the weakened virus in the oral polio vaccine mutates and spreads in communities with low immunization rates.