The 2025 polio vaccination campaign has been launched in the state by the Bauchi State Government with assistance from the United Nations Children’s Fund and other development partners.
Rilwanu Mohammed, the State Executive Chairman of the Primary Healthcare Development Board, stated during the unveiling in the Tirwun community in the Bauchi metropolis on Friday that the campaign’s goal was to vaccinate every kid in the state under the age of five.
Mohammed stated that children who have never received a vaccination before, known as zero-dose children, would receive extra consideration.
According to Mohammed, Bauchi state received 2.5 million doses of the Novel Oral Polio Vaccine (NOPV) for the exercise. The state also hired 160 monitors, including CSOs, to make sure the polio vaccination campaign ran well.
He said that in order to guarantee complete compliance, all state health stakeholders and the Chief of the UNICEF Bauchi Field Office would be participating in a special monitoring exercise in the three Local Government Areas of Ganjuwa, Bauchi, and Ningi where there were no polio vaccination doses.
To guarantee compliance, Mohammed stated, “We are moving with the security, the DSS, the police, and with armored vehicles.” This is not what we are doing
workout in the same way that we used to, where we would be pleading and begging.
All children will be required to receive vaccinations this time, and any who refuse to comply may face arrest. UNICEF, WHO, and the state government have done a great deal of work in supporting this exercise and other social mobilizations by providing corresponding financing.
“Why are we worried that we have non-compliance in some quarters? It’s because we don’t want to miss any child. We will also use the security in areas where there is insecurity to ensure that every child is vaccinated.”
On her part, the Chief of UNICEF’s Bauchi Field Office, Nuzhat Rafique, said that UNICEF is committed to supporting the state in the polio vaccination to ensure that every child is immunised.
She assured that more development partners were supporting the exercise this time around to ensure that there was total compliance during the exercise.
Represented by the UNICEF Head of Social Behaviour Change Specialist, Eki George, Rafique said, “The fight against polio is not over yet in the state. All fathers should give consent to their wives for their children to be vaccinated.
“As a buildup to this flag-off, we provided support to the state to ensure that this campaign runs smoothly for us in Bauchi, which is our focus. We are working with the state to ensure that every concerned parent is reached no matter where the child is.”
Also speaking, the District Head of Tirwun community, Ahmad Muhammad, lauded UNICEF and other partners for supporting the state in ensuring that every child is vaccinated during the exercise.
He further called on all the traditional rulers to participate actively during the monitoring to ensure compliance.
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