Health officials return to Kaduna community for diphtheria immunization

The World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, Kaduna State Primary Healthcare, and Zaria Local Government, on Monday, returned to the Tukur-Tukur community in Zaria for a second round of immunization and follow-up on the reported outbreak of Diphtheria disease, which has claimed the lives of approximately five children.

The Tukur-Tukur Community said they are grateful for the prompt arrival of a combined medical team to address the recent diphtheria outbreak in the area.

Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, an elder in the community and Director of Publicity and Advocacy of the Northern Elders Forum, in a statement, while receiving the team expressed the community’s appreciation for this timely response to their distress call.

He said: “We are relieved that the medical team has arrived to provide the necessary support and intervention. The community has already set up a monitoring and sensitization system to ensure compliance with government health initiatives, and we are committed to working closely with the team to combat this outbreak.

“The medical team will continue the ongoing immunization program in the community and also conduct a house-to-house survey to ascertain the extent of the disease’s spread. Diphtheria is a vaccine-preventable disease, and the team is dedicated to working with the community to achieve its total eradication.

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“Diphtheria is a serious and highly contagious disease, but we are confident that with the community’s cooperation and the collective efforts of the medical team, we can effectively control and eliminate this outbreak.

“The Tukur-Tukur Community welcomes the medical team and looks forward to a successful partnership in addressing this public health challenge.

“We are grateful for the quick response from the health authorities. The community is committed to working closely with the medical team to ensure the successful implementation of the immunization and disease containment efforts.”