Health

Nigerian govt supplies two million polio vaccines to Kebbi

Published

3 weeks ago

June 14, 2025

The Nigerian government has delivered two million doses of polio vaccines to Kebbi State as part of a nationwide immunisation campaign targeting children under the age of five.

The vaccine supply, facilitated by the Federal Ministry of Health through the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, NPHCDA, is part of efforts to halt the circulation of polio variants and strengthen immunity among vulnerable children.

Yusuf Umar Sauwa, spokesperson for the Kebbi State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, confirmed the development, describing the vaccines as potent booster doses capable of interrupting transmission.

“These vaccines will strengthen immunity among children and ensure the virus does not resurface,” he said.

Sauwa added that Kebbi currently has zero reported cases of polio, attributing this to the state’s strong surveillance and routine immunisation systems.

To address issues of non-compliance and vaccine rejection, particularly in areas such as Jega, Koko, and Birnin Kebbi, religious and traditional leaders have been actively engaged to help dispel misinformation and promote vaccine acceptance.

Up Next

Polio immunization: Sensitization campaign helped us to overcome resistance in Kano – Educator

Don't Miss

Adamawa commences polio vaccination targeting 1.3m children

Click to comment

Health

Nigeria records 145 Lassa fever deaths in 2025

Published

1 week ago

June 27, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) has confirmed 145 deaths from Lassa fever in 2025 as the country continues to battle the viral hemorrhagic disease across 18 states.

According to the latest situation report released on Friday by the NCDC for epidemiological week 24 (June 9–15), Nigeria recorded 766 confirmed cases from 5,678 suspected infections.

The case fatality rate stood at 18.9 per cent, up from 17.6 per cent during the same period in 2024.

The agency said that the states most affected were Ondo, Bauchi, Edo, Taraba, and Ebonyi, which accounted for 91 per cent of the confirmed cases.

It said that Ondo alone contributed 31 per cent making it the epicentre of the outbreak.

In spite a decline in new confirmed cases — down to eight from 11 the previous week — the Nigerian public health agency said that health authorities remained concerned about the high fatality rate.

The agency said that this was driven by late presentation of cases, poor health-seeking behaviour, and unsanitary living conditions in high-burden communities.

According to it, efforts to contain the outbreak have included the deployment of Rapid Response Teams to 10 states, risk communication, environmental sanitation campaigns, and training of health workers in high-risk areas.

The NCDC also de-escalated its Incident Management System to alert mode while integrating Lassa fever messages into wider disease awareness campaigns.

The agency has appealed to the public to avoid contact with rodents and to seek prompt medical care at designated treatment centres at the first sign of symptoms such as fever, headache, or bleeding.

The agency continues to urge Nigerians to maintain hygiene, report symptoms early, and avoid contact with rodents and their secretions.

“The public is also encouraged to follow NCDC advisories and utilise the toll-free line 6232 for inquiries,” it said.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that Lassa fever is a viral hemorrhagic disease transmitted primarily through contact with the urine or faeces of infected rats.

It can also spread from person to person through bodily fluids, contaminated objects, or infected medical equipment.

Symptoms include fever, sore throat, headache, vomiting, muscle pain, and in severe cases, bleeding from the body openings.

Health

Polio immunization: Sensitization campaign helped us to overcome resistance in Kano – Educator

Published

2 weeks ago

June 25, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

The Health Educator of Warawa Local Government Area (LGA) in Kano State, Bello Jafaru, says community sensitization and strong support from traditional leaders helped them overcome vaccine resistance in the just-concluded polio immunization campaign.

In an interview with Daily Post, Jafaru revealed that the campaign targeted 57,754 children in the local government, but they were able to immunize 59,391 children, surpassing the target.

“We did massive sensitization before the campaign. We held advocacy meetings, taskforce meetings, and town hall meetings with stakeholders. We explained the challenges we had in the previous campaign and what we needed from them to avoid repeating vaccine resistance.”

He recalled that in a previous round of polio vaccination, some parents in one of the wards, ( Jigawa ward) resisted the vaccine until traditional leaders stepped in.

“We had to do community dialogue in that settlement. The people told us their concerns, and we listened. That helped us solve the problem,” he added.

Jafaru said the recent campaign also faced challenges.

He gave instances where a woman refused to allow her children to be vaccinated.

“But thanks to our non-compliance committee and the support of traditional leaders, we were able to resolve it. The committee first spoke to her, and when that didn’t work, the Hakimi instructed that she and her children be brought for immunization.”

He explained that the non-compliance committee is made up of representative from each ward, including health workers and community influencers.

“They are doing their best. They were the ones who convinced the woman before involving the traditional ruler,” he said.

Jafaru advised parents to take polio immunization seriously.

“It is free, safe, and protects children from polio and other diseases. Parents should take their children to the health facility to be vaccinated,” he said.

This comes as the Kano State Government, in collaboration with UNICEF, continues its campaign to ensure that no child in the state suffers from polio by December 2025.

Health

Adamawa commences polio vaccination targeting 1.3m children

Published

3 weeks ago

June 14, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Adamawa State on Saturday commenced the June 2025 oral polio vaccination targeting over 1.3 million children aged 0–59 months.

The state government explained at a press briefing, forming part of the four-day vaccination exercise lasting June 14 to June 17, that it had received a total of 1,572,300 doses of the vaccines for the targeted 1,379,814 children across the 21 LGAs of the state.

The State Director of Disease Control and Immunization, Dr. James Vasumu, who gave the figures, said necessary sensitization had been carried out for all parents across the 226 wards of the state to present their under-five children for the vital oral polio vaccination.

The Executive Chairman of the Adamawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency, Dr. Suleiman Bashir, appealed for media coverage of the oral polio vaccination campaign that will achieve 100 percent acceptance by the people.

Making the point that some families in certain places still view the oral vaccines with skepticism, Bashir told the newsmen at the briefing, “We need behavioural change among households. We need them to believe that the vaccine is safe and to access this vaccination which government spends much money to make available for free.”

The Oral Polio Vaccination Campaign is a joint venture by the Federal Government, the various state governments, as well as NGOs that include UNICEF, WHO, and other partners.

A national official from the Emergency Operation Centre, Professor Georgina Odaibo, who bears the responsibility of improving information sharing regarding the polio vaccination campaign, said she has enough expertise as a virologist to attest to the safety of the polio vaccine.

She explained that though Nigeria is free of wild polio, the vaccination is necessary to reinforce the country’s status and ensure that no Nigerian falls victim should any infected foreigner get into the country.