A renewed push to era
dicate polio in the North East, the Borno and Yobe States Primary Health Care Management Boards have sought stronger security collaboration with the Theatre Command, Operation HADIN KAI (OPHK), to deliver vaccines in vulnerable and inaccessible communities.
Led by Borno PHCMB Executive Secretary, Professor Muhammed Arab Alhaji, the joint delegation visited OPHK headquarters in Maiduguri on August 9, 2025, urging military support to ensure safe and effective polio immunisation under the World Health Organization’s Reaching Inaccessible Children (RIC) initiative.
Professor Alhaji stressed that without the military’s protection, reaching children in remote, high-risk zones would be nearly impossible. He praised OPHK’s past contributions, which helped vaccinate over 432,000 children between 2016 and 2024.
Theatre Commander, Major General Abdulsalam Abubakar, commended the boards’ resilience despite financial constraints and pledged sustained military backing for their health mission.
The visit featured strategy discussions, presentations on RIC progress, and symbolic gestures, including plaque exchanges and group photographs, as stakeholders reaffirmed their shared commitment to defeating polio in the region.
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