Zamfara begins diphtheria vaccination, Thursday, supports SFPD’s Zero-dose children initiative— Health Commissioner

Zamfara begins diphtheria vaccination, Thursday, supports SFPD’s Zero-dose children initiative— Health Commissioner

By Sadiq Martins, Gusau

The Zamfara Government says it has received vaccines for the prevention of diphtheria, with a vaccination exercise scheduled to commence across 11 local governments in the state on Thursday.

The State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Nafisa Maradun, made the disclosure at a one-day State-Level Traditional Leadership Engagement Meeting on the Zamfara Tracking and Accountability for Equitable Immunisation, Z-TRACE Project in Gusau, Zamfara capital.

The commissioner’s announcement followed the outbreak of diphtheria disease that recorded 44 deaths in 367 the identified cases, with some more than 200 recoveries.

The Director of Public Health in the ministry, Dr. Yusuf Haske had confirmed the outbreak in an interview with with reporters in Gusau.

The development led to the extension of school resumption by the State Ministry of Education, Science and Technology in the state by two weeks.

Maradun said the state government had secured the vaccines and would administer same on children in the affected LGs begining on Thursday, September 24.

Maradun, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Rilwan Zurmi, said 11 Local Government Areas of the state currently had reported cases of the disease.

She explained that results of analysis conducted by the ministry showed that, most of the children who contracted the disease either did not receive vaccination or were not fully immunised.

Maradun described vaccination as essential to protecting children against preventable diseases urging the traditional rulers to intensify community sensitisation on the importance of immunisation.

The commissioner said the Sultan Foundation under the Z-TRACE had targeted to reach zero-dose and under immunised children across communities in seven local government areas of Zamfara identified to have high number of such children.

She explained that, the project had been designed to ensure that children who had yet to receive any vaccine, as well as those who had not completed their routine immunisation, were identified, reached and vaccinated.

Maradun emphasized the role traditional leaders to mobilise parents and communities to make their children available for vaccination, particularly as the state prepares to commence the diphtheria vaccination exercise.

She commended the Sultan Foundation, GAVI CSO Fund manager mechanism, Mannion Daniels and other partners for the support in the effort to tackle the menace of Zero-dose children in the state.

Speaking during the meeting, the Programme Officer of the Sultan Foundation in Zamfara, Jamilu Sarkin-Gulbi, said that the programme had targeted 30 percent of the 269,421 identified zero-dose and under-immunised children in seven LGs in the next 17 months.

He said Z-TRACE Project was a community-driven accountability initiative aimed at tracking children, strengthening accountability from households to health facilities to ensure equitable access to immunisation.

According to him, the project would rely on three key pillars: leadership and policy under the Ministry of Health and the State Primary Health Care Board, traditional institutions and community structures, as well as LGA teams and Community-Based Organisations, targeting 80,772 Zero-dose children.

Sarkin-Gulbi said the involvement of traditional rulers was critical because of the leadership role in their communities is capable of mobilising parents to ensure that their children receive routine vaccinations.

He appealed to the Emirs, District Heads, Ward Development Committees, Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) and other stakeholders to support the implementation of the project across the seven participating Local Government Areas.

He urged the media to intensify public awareness on the importance of vaccination and help take the message to households across the state to reduce the Zero-dose children burden.

In his remarks, the Emir of Moriki, Alhaji Bashir Samaila, urged participants to support the Sultan Foundation and other stakeholders in their efforts to reduce and eventually eliminate zero-dose and under-immunised children in Zamfara.
The Emir pledged the traditional leader support to the Sultan Foundation in the effort to tackle the menace of Zero-dose children in parts of the state.

Sultan Foundation is implementing the Z-TRACE project under the GAVI CSO Fund Manager Mechanism with Mannion Daniel’s support among other partners.

The meeting was attended by traditional rulers,officials of the State Primary Health Care Board, Ward Development Committees, health partners and Community-Based Organisations among others.END