 on Friday in Sokoto.){kind=link}
Sokoto, April 19, 2024 An NGO, Sultan Foundation for Peace and Development (SFPD), have engaged religious and community leaders on addressing polio vaccine rejections in Sokoto state.
The event was organized in collaboration with Sokoto State Ministry for Religious Affairs and Sokoto State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SSPHCDA) on Friday in Sokoto.
In his address, the SFPD Director of Programmes, Dr Aminu Inuwa, described participants as pillars of success on any programme in the society as they are custodians and shapers attitudes.
Inuwa said the exercise was to strengthen demand creation of vaccination in the community and address gray areas where people need elaborative explanations on vaccination as well as related issues.
According to him, scholars as models in the society would be continuesly engaged on radio, television and other media interactive programmes besides their normal sermons and congregational preachings.
He added that leaders would also be engage at all levels in the exercise and highlighted expected responsibilities as well as chain of addressing disagreements and overall situational reports.
Inuwa reviewed the establishment of SFPD from 2013, memberships across Nigeria and roles of Northern Traditional Leaders Committee on Immunization and cautioned officials on the dangers on corruption during the exercise.
Dr Mubarak Saleh, the State Team Lead of Solina Foundation, reviewed the criteria of personnel engagement from ward, village to local government levels and urged stakeholders’ to strictly abide by the guides.
Saleh said committee responsibility should be sacrosant stressing the need to guard all forms of malpractices from vaccinators, supervisors and other focal officials with residents of the areas.
He lamented that most of the non compliance cases were recorded in the metropolitan local government areas comprising Sokoto North, Sokoto South, Wamakko and Bodinga with few outside.
Saleh noted that Sokoto state is leading with high number of cases at present followed by some northern states.
He urged leaders to be instrumental in address the hitches as donors and governments were investing more on safeguarding peoples health, so community needed to reciprocate the efforts.
According to him, one infected person can spread the disease to 200 children stressing the need for stakeholders’ to live up to thier responsibilities.
Leading the roundtable discussions, the Commissioner for Religious Affairs, Dr Jabir Maihula, stressed the need for broader understanding within religious context on diseases, treatment and preventions.
Maihula led in resolving questions from the participants mostly bordered on why investments on vaccinations, rather curing direct diseases such as malaria and others.
He reassured that government would continue to partners with relevant authorities on awareness creation, changing perceptions, vaccine acceptance, resolution of disagreements and other related issues in the state.
The Commissioner further assured support the coming immunization campaign which starts on Saturday April 20, across the state.
The Executive Secretary of SSPHCDA, Dr Larai Tambuwal, who was represented by Director of Social Mobilization and Advocacy, Mr Dahiru Kamarudeen, assured more support in order to achieve the desired success.
Newsmen reports that Sokoto State recorded 61 cases of Poliovirus Type 2 (CVDPV2), which experts blamed on the inability of parents to avail their wards for immunisation and security challenges affecting the state.
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