The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has donated 2.5m doses of Polio vaccines to the Bauchi State Government as part of preparation for the 2025 vaccination campaign.
It also lamented that Bauchi State has a total number of 556,000 zero dose children in 13 Local Government As thereby putting their chances of survival at risk.
The UNICEF Chief of Field Office (CFO), Bauchi Field Office, Dr Nuzhat Rafique stated this while handing over the vaccines at the State Cold store situated inside the premises of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), on Thursday.
Rafique said: “As you know, Polio campaign is starting in the 13 Zero Dose LGAs on the 24th and then the entire State on 26th to 29th of April. This is very critical, very important, it is a make or break event for us. These two campaigns this year are the last chance for the country and for Bauchi to contribute towards the eradication of Polio in Nigeria.
“This is because Bauchi is one of the Zero Dose states with 13 out of 20 LGAs with zero dose children. Zero dose children means that no vaccines has ever reached them and it is comprising of over 556, 000 children who have never received any vaccination, so you can imagine how highly risk they are.
“So, we have mapped out these LGAs and we are starting there as from 24th. I requested you to give this massive report, let all communities in Bauchi State know that this is the month for Polio campaign.”
She called on communities to start cooperating and mobilising resources and come to the vaccination centres or wherever the teams are going so that their children would be vaccinated.
“This is not only for them, but for the generations to come, for the whole future of Nigeria and the children born in Nigeria. If we are Polio free, they will be much better citizens insha Allah.
“Especially for this campaign, UNICEF in coordinating with the Primary Healthcare Development Board and Her Excellency, the First Lady, we always have this campaign in Bauchi State and we hope that this time around too, it will be successful in sha Allah.
“The Primary Healthcare Board has taken delivery of the vaccine which we supported in bringing in a total of 2.5m doses of Polio vaccine already here in the cold room, then we have more than 50000 of drops, we have 25000 pen markers to be used for marking fingers of children vaccinated,” she said.
Rafique challenged journalists to take this message to the communities to bring out their children for the vaccination so that those vaccinated would be numbered.
She stressed that, “Every child U-5 is a target for the campaign but in those 556,000 children who are zero dose, we are hoping that after now, there will not be zero dose in Bauchi again.
“It is not only Polio for them, it is all the vaccines package that need to reach them and once Polio reaches them and they start getting immunised, insha Allah we will reduce the number of zero dose children.”
Also speaking, UNICEF Health Officer, Patrick Akor, explained that 160,250 doses will be used for the round of vaccination to reach children between ages 0 – 59 months.
“We are going to ensure that in all the local governments, all teams have adequate vaccines during the implementation exercise,” he assured.
Bappah Jika, a representative from the Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Board, who confirmed the receipt of the vaccines from UNICEF, appreciated the Fund for the ‘life saving’ support.
He assured that adequate publicity will be embarked upon to create awareness for the campaign so that the target will be achieved.
Armstrong Bakam
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