Amina Ahmed
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has engaged the traditional rulers in Bauchi state to ensure maximum compliance of the people with Polio vaccine uptake.
Speaking during a courtesy visit to the Emir of Dass, Alh. Othman Usman on Friday, Dr. Nuzhat Rafique, UNICEF Chief of Bauchi Field Office, said the role the traditional institutions would play in ensuring that the people embraced the vaccine could not be overemphasised.
While appreciating the Emir of Dass for his commitment and concern for the children in the state and Nigeria at large, the UNICEF boss urged him to lead other traditional, community leaders and district heads across the state to ensure that all children were reached and immunized.
“This is a very impressive local government and I congratulate you for the leadership and for being the father of this LGA where we don’t have any zero dose children and open defecation free.
“I would like to highlight the need for your leadership and help for all the local governments in Bauchi because unfortunately, Bauchi is showing one of the lowest indicators in terms of all these achievements that Dass LGA already has, like Open Defecation Free and zero dose children.
“As you know, the polio campaign is starting on 24 to 30 of this month, and this is very important for Nigeria as this is the last opportunity for the country to eradicate polio.
“I’m available to go with you or to wherever you ask me to go, especially the non-compliant or resistant houses because we really need to change.
“We have to make all the houses compliant. We have to give them advice to bring out their children and be given polio drops,” she said.
Rafique added that every child must have a polio drop this time around and no child should be left behind, even in the most deprived areas.
This, she said, would be possible if all the traditional, community and religious leaders in the state worked closely with UNICEF.
Responding, the Emir of Dass who is also the Chairman, Bauchi state Emirate Councils Committee on Health (BASECCOH), said that the Traditional Institution in the state had started a renewed strategy in terms of sensitisation on polio.
According to him, the traditional rulers agreed to pay visits to health facilities to ascertain the progress of the immunisation exercise and had also made it a duty for every District Head to visit a health facility within his domain constantly.
“On the part of the Emirate, we are going to embark on supervision. We will choose some of the areas to visit across the state.
“As you said that you are always available to be part of the supervision, we are going to arrange and as well share the itinerary with you so that during the implementation, we will be able to visit all the zones in the state.
“I promise you that we are going to do our best to make sure that we see changes in terms of polio eradication in Bauchi state,” he promised.
