Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano
Three years after Nigeria was certified polio-free, Kano State Government has revealed that it has recorded no fewer than 106 cases of circulating Vaccine Drive Polio Virus type 2, (cVDPV2) in 25 local government areas of the state.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Aminu Ibrahim Tsanyawa, made the disclosure yesterday at a press conference on OBR1 and MNCH Week Integrated Campaigns, held at the Ministry of Health in Kano.
According to him, Kano had joined other 12 states that had so far recorded the new polio virus for the first time since 25th August, 2020, when Nigeria was certified polio-free by Works Health Organisation (WHO).
The commissioner said that the country had therefore developed end game strategy to stop the transmission of the cVDPV2, adding that to achieve the goal, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) introduced improved and genetically more stable vaccine called the novel type 2 oral polio vaccine, nOPV2 to respond to the outbreak.
To this end, according to Tsanyawa, the country would flag off the outbreak response, OBR campaign, spanning on Friday, January 7th in all the 44 local government areas of the state.
He said the state government is targeting 3.6 million children under-5 for the exercise with the Directly Observed Polio Vaccination, DOPV, adding that the house-house campaign would be flagged off on Sunday.
Tsanyawa explained that the exercise would be launched along with the second round of 2021 Maternal Newborn and Child Health Week (MNCHW) at Ungogo Local Government Area by the state Governor, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje.
The commissioner explained that the Health Ministry is also targeting over 600,000 women and children under-5 for the MNCHW campaign.
“The MNCHW campaign, which is being integrated with the OBR1 by the ministry is a week-long event during which cost effective maternal and child health interventions such as Vitamin A supplementation, deworming, nutrition assessment, free ANC drugs like hematinic Sulfur doxime prymethamine and LLIN are distributed to children and pregnant women in all the more than 1,300 health facilities of the state as part of the continuous commitment of the state government in improving the maternal and child health indices in the state,” he said.
The commissioner also revealed that about N2.8 billion would be spent for the two campaign exercises.
He called on parents, caregivers and pregnant women to use the opportunity, assuring that the vaccines are effective, safe and free of charge, calling on the general public to come out en masse for the exercise.
He also commended Governor Ganduje “for his commitments for his support to the health and well-being of the people of Kano State.”
