Katsina, UNICEF to Vaccinate 7.1m Children Against Rubella Measles, Polio 

• Deploys 200 non-compliance resolution teams

Francis Sardauna in Katsina 

The Katsina State Government, in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), has announced plans to vaccinate 7.1 million children across the state against polio and rubella measles from October 6 to 13, 2025.

The Chief of UNICEF Field Office, Kano, Mr. Rahama Farah, disclosed this at a one-day media dialogue on integrated October polio vaccination campaign held in Katsina on Tuesday.

He said the Katsina State government will implement the polio campaign integrated with measles rubella with 3,698,500 doses of novel oral polio vaccines, targeting 2.3 million children under five years of age.

He explained that 2.3 million children will be vaccinated through directly observed oral polio vaccination, while 4.8 million children between nine months and 14 years will be vaccinated against rubella measles, totalling 7.1 million children.

Farah said: “Katsina has been provided with 3,698,500 doses of Novel Oral Polio Vaccines (nOPV2), targeting 2.3 million children under five years of age, who will be vaccinated through Directly Observed Oral Polio Vaccination (DOOPV).

“Also in this campaign, a total of 4.8 million children aged nine months to 14 years will be vaccinated against Rubella Measles. A total of  2,253 teams will be deployed to administer the vaccine using fixed and temporary post strategies from October 4 to 13, 2025.”

He added that UNICEF has supported the training of 3,300 health workers in the state on improved people skills and the training of 600 Non-compliance Resolution Teams (NCRTs) to ensure compliance.

According to him, “A total of 5,584 teams will provide routine immunization services and other antigens from October 6 to 10, 2025 (these teams will include 3,761 teams moving from house-to-house, 993 teams in transit/special points and 830 in fixed post).

“Two hundred NCRTs, each comprising a community leader, traditional leader, and a vaccinator, will be deployed to resolve non-compliance cases in advance and during the intra-campaign phase on a real-time basis in Katsina.”

He said the state government, with support from UNICEF, has deployed six state facilitators, 21 local government facilitators, 462 voluntary ward supervisors and 4,647 voluntary community mobilizers to support the campaign. 

He further disclosed that 34 local government chairmen and 70 district heads have been engaged on polio “and they have signed a declaration in support of immunization”.

Farah, however, said the state has recorded two cases of variant of polio virus in Danmusa Local Government, while 17 cases were reported in eight local governments in 2024, including eight from Batsari.

In his remarks, the Executive Secretary, Katsina State Primary Healthcare Agency, Dr Shamsuddeen Yahaya, said: “We found evidence that Katsina has a lot of cases of rubella, although it is been underreported, and this is a wonderful opportunity for us to ensure that we protect our children.

“We are also going to use that period to do our normal polio campaign targeting children from zero to 59 months. As we all know that we’re at the verge of eliminating the circulating variant polio virus, and this campaign is also very crucial.”