Agency to immunise 2.8m children against polio in Kaduna

The Kaduna State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA) says it is targeting over 2.8 million children for the second round of polio outbreak response immunisation in the state.

The agency’s Deputy Director, Hamza Ibrahim-Hamza, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Kaduna that the vaccination would run from April 20 to April 23 in the state’s 23 local government areas.

He said that the state hoped to achieve 85 per cent in the exercise, adding “we are commencing the exercise on Saturday and hope to achieve total compliance by the parents and caregivers.

” We want to ensure that children from ages 0-five years are fully immunised.”
Ibrahim-Hamza said that the agency had intensified efforts to involve traditional and religious leaders to track children that are under one year.He said that at least two health workers would be sent to each of the hard-to-reach areas for proper coverage.

Ibrahim-Hamza appealed to parents, guardians and caregivers to ensure they make their children available for immunisation during the campaign and for routine immunisation in any nearby health centre or hospital.

“The vaccination will include house-to-house and in hospitals and we will supervise 1,168 health facilities so that all the communities will benefit, especially children less than one year,” the official said.