By Abdallah el-Kurebe, Editor
Aimed at sustaining the current tempo of keeping Poliomyelitis at bay, the Sokoto state government in collaboration with UNICEF has introduced Fractional-dose Inactivated Polio Vaccine (fIPV) simultaneously with the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) in the ongoing polio campaign in the state.
Newsdiaryonline.com recalls that the last case of polio virus recorded in the state was in 2012, which resulted in residual paralysis of a 10-year old Abubakar Ibrahim.
Designed to cover eight local government areas including Sokoto North, Sokoto South, Bodinga, Wamakko, Kware, Dange/Shuni, Yabo and Wurno for six days, the exercise targets children of age 0-59 months.
At a meeting with Journalists Against Poliomyelitis and for Immunisation (JAP), UNICEF’s Head of Communication, Pius Kwesi said the conventional media was an important partner in creating and sustaining awareness for polio campaign as well as maximising coverage against the disease.
“In the effective and factual reports of the campaign against polio, the conventional media is more trusted than social media. This is why the involvement of practitioners in the conventional media is sought so that the campaign will not only be effectual but also worthwhile.
“We need to engage the active participation of groups that are influential to the course of achieving results,” he emphasised.
Dr. Larai Aliyu Tambuwal of WHO said it was of great concern that the Northeastern and Western Nigeria were lagging behind as a result of their low-level compliance to routine and supplementary immunisation exercises.
“It is important to encourage active collaboration with relevant agencies in order to address possible risks of transmitting polio by sustaining the tempo of Routine Immunisation (RI) and SIAs,” she said.
According Dr. Larai, fIPV benefits children previously vaccinated for polio as well as the zero-dose children. It boosts the immunity of children who have previously received oral polio vaccine (OPV). fIPV could be given alone or at the same time with any OPV vaccine. Accelerated routine immunization with fIPV is recommended to enhance eradication of wild poliovirus (WPV).
Sokoto state JAP Coordinator, Abdallah el-Kurebe spoke about the need to enact laws that would compel parents to allow their children to be vaccinated.
“Citizens look up to government on health issues, when there failures, the government is blamed, if there is epidemic, citizens cry to government, if there are no enough measures to curtail diseases, governments are blamed.
“If citizens rely on government for all these, they should be seen to abide by all rules and regulations to achieve a healthy society; it informs the need to comply with preventive measures put in place by government. Non compliance must be punished,” he said.
