By Usman Usman Garba
The people of Kano State are assured and satisfied with the safeness and effectiveness of the polio vaccine, hence the need for maximum cooperation for the success of the ongoing campaign against poliomyelitis.
This was revealed by the state Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, on Monday while supervising the exercise in Kunchi and Tsanyawa local governments, respectively.
It could be recalled that Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, on 28th September 2024, flagged off the 2024 polio OBR3 campaign in Dawakin Kudu local government amidst various health stakeholders and a mammoth crowd of people.
The commissioner said that people need to understand that children are vaccinated for them to get a robust immune system that could fight and defeat diseases intruding on the bodies, maintaining that diseases like diphtheria, measles, etc, are vaccine-preventable diseases but were still with the people.
Dr Labaran lamentably asserted that non-compliance by some people endangers the health indices of the state, urging them to rescind by allowing their eligible children to get vaccinated, failure of which could lead to transmission of diseases to the immediate neighbourhoods, communities and the state at large.
Represented by the DG of Private Health Institutions Management Agency (PHIMA), Prof. Salisu Ibrahim Ahmad, the commissioner lauded Tsanyawa LGA for the full participation of the political class, traditional leaders, personnel of the health department and the teams on the ground and urged them to maintain the tempo till the end of the exercise.
He also commended Kunchi LGA for their effort to the success of the campaign with improved data generation, though with little observation in terms of coordination at the PHC level, calling on the principal officers to sit together and harmonize the data they generate and work as a team to achieve the target objective in the area.
The commissioner has, however, lamented the non-participation of the interim management officer by not attending the evening review meeting despite a verbal pledge made for his attendance, advising him to brace up for mitigating any arising challenge.
Dr. Labaran eulogized Governor Yusuf’s commitment to improving the health indices of the state and giving special attention to the care of his people, further commending development partners for their immense support to the healthcare system of the state.
